Assumptions
by billyG
Summary: Edward, an actor, and Bella, a journalist, are drawn to each other when they meet. But their first impression of each other goes disastrously wrong. Can they overcome their stereotypical assumptions to see what's been there all along? AH Slightly OCC
1. One

**Disclaimer: I only wish I could own twilight or any of the associated characters.**

**Assumptions**

"A novel is balanced between a few true impressions and the multitude of false ones that make up most of what we call life." ~ Saul Bellow

**Summary:** Everyone makes assumptions about other people's lives. When Bella and Edward first meet they are initially drawn to each other. However their first impression of each other goes disastrously wrong, leading them to each assume that the other dislikes them. Bella's prejudices of celebrity culture and fierce loyalty to her friends leads her to push Edward, a Hollywood actor, away. Whilst Edward's past and inability to trust leads him mistrust journalist Bella's intentions. Can they overcome this to see what's been there all along? B&E AH a bit OOC. Set in London.

**Chapter One**

**BPOV**

The thump of the pounding dance music could be felt vibrating in the whole room. I could feel it resonating through my body as I sat at the bar. Focusing on the shot sitting before me, I picked it up and tossed it down my throat in one swift motion, shuddering as I swallowed the clear bitter liquid. I placed the glass back on the bar heavily and swivelled round on my barstool to face the rest of the club.

It was fairly late in the evening and although there were a lot of people milling around, the VIP section of the club wasn't yet busy. I recognized the familiar notes of a song and raised my eyes to the dance floor, to see my best friend dancing in the centre.

Stunningly beautiful at almost 6ft tall in killer heels and a strategically revealing red dress she was every man's wet dream. Rosalie Hale was a sex kitten with a gorgeous figure and a personality to match. Tenacious, she could reduce anyone to tears with just a few words from her sharp tongue- she took no shit from anyone.

Out on the dance floor, Rose was making faces at me, an unspoken signal that she was struggling with the attention of males that flocked round her like bees to a honey pot. Sighing, I hoped off the barstool and sauntered over to the dance floor. She gave me a grateful smile as I worked my way over to her and started dancing. As I moved to the rhythm I felt the familiar effects of drinking overtake me, leaving me in a delicious state of mindlessness.

After a few songs, Rosalie pointed to the bar and gave me the universal drink sign. I mouthed 'water' at her and she gave me a knowing smile and headed off. After a few moments I heard a high pitched squeal, followed by a booming laugh. I looked over towards the bar and spotted Rose with her back to me. Over the crowds I could barely make out that she was talking to two men- one with a mess of dark curls and the other with a shock of untidy brown hair.

Moments later, Rose came back empty handed, grabbed my hand and began towing me off the dance floor in the opposite direction to the bar. Recognising the glint in her eyes I began resisting.

'Please, Rose, no more. I asked you not to set me up with any more men,' I pleaded my case.

'Bella. Have some trust,' Rose shot me a severe look.

'Fine,' I conceded. I knew this wasn't an argument I was going to be winning tonight. She pulled me over to a booth in the far corner and began introducing me to its occupants, who stood as we approached.

'Bella, this is Alice Cullen. She works for Moda magazine as fashion artistic director.' Rose gave me a triumphant smile, 'Alice, this is my best friend, Bella.'

She gestured at a petite women with short dark hair and steely blue eyes. She was elegant, dressed in the latest fashions but still managing to carry it off with a sense of individuality. She held out a delicate hand for me to shake, as we exchanged greetings.

'Nice to meet you, Bella. This is my brother Edward and my cousin Emmett.' Alice spoke in a musical voice and I instantly knew where the previous squeals had originated from.

I looked over to see the two men to Alice's left and immediately recognized them as curly mop and brown hair that moments before Rose was talking to at the bar. Emmett, with the brown curly hair, was the taller of the two and was heavily built with muscles straining through his t-shirt. He smiled at me with bright blue twinkly eyes.

To his right stood the one Alice had pointed out as her brother. He was tall but dwarfed next to Emmett's stature, and although nowhere near as built as Emmett he stilled looked toned. His hair which I had previously thought of as brown, was more reddish like a copper colour. His features were similar to Alice's- strong, angular, but in a more masculine way. He was absurdly beautiful, he almost looked like a figment of my imagination.

His eyes then locked on to mine, a soft green colour but fierce in the intensity of his gaze. I smiled at him in what I thought was a friendly smile until he scowled at me in return. Hurt, I broke from his harsh stare and looked to see Rosalie smirking smugly and looking amused at Emmett, whilst he blatantly looked her up and down. Alice caught my eye, glanced at Rosalie and Emmett, and then rolled her eyes at me. Smiling at myself again, I turned and addressed the others, 'Drinks?'

We were soon seated comfortably and I had finally managed to get hold of a bottle of water which I drank greedily. Alice and Rose were deep in conversation, discussing their mutual aquentences. Edward was still shooting me death glares from across the table making me uncomfortable until he was finally dragged away to the other side of the room by Emmett to talk to some bimbo with frizzy hair. Alice and Rose were animatedly talking shop which translated to fashion, make-up and such like. Still wondering what I had done to deserve Edward's reaction, I wasn't paying much attention.

'So Bella, what do you do?' Alice asked inquisitively. The million dollar question, which reminded me of the horrible day I had today.

Until today I had been employed by Vertigo magazine, a trendy weekly aimed at London's youth culture of fashion, gigs, and the arts. After being informed this morning of the sudden termination of my contract, I cleared my desk and placed an SOS call to Rose and Angela, our other flatmate, in tears. Rosalie's solution had been to dress me up to the nines in a spangled vest, high heels and skin tight jeans and proceeded to drag me to this club. I groaned and laid my head on my arms resting on the table and sighed.

'Bella's currently unemployed at the moment,' Rose chimed in.

'Rose!' I yelled looking up, 'I'm not unemployed. I'm a journalist, my contract got terminated today.' I sighed again.

'Really? What kind of articles do you write?' Alice asked.

I explained to Alice about the last few articles I had written for Vertigo. I mostly worked on the current affairs side of things but had also worked on some reviews of gigs and art functions and the like. I had even turned me hand at editing and some layouts. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to focus on yet. She seemed genuinely interested in my work and opened her clutch purposefully and pulled out a business card.

'Here. Give me a ring tomorrow. Let me speak with my editor at Moda and I'm sure they can find something for you. They're always looking for journalists with a little edge and you have a great head for a story. I think you would be perfect.'

'Really?' I looked at Alice dumbfounded.

'Really!' She looked at me as a genuine smile spread across her face. 'You're Isabella Swan. You did the report on St. Martin's College fashion week. It was good. Insightful and thorough. I'm sure there will be something for you at _Moda_.' I was stunned and almost speechless.

'Alice, Thanks. This is great.' _Oh my god! Moda magazine?_

'Brilliant,' she squealed, bouncing in her seat, 'It will be so much fun. And we can get lunch together and go shopping it would be so great...' She trailed off excitedly at the prospect of having an office buddy and I vaguely heard her talking to Rose about shopping excursions. I looked down at the card in my hands. _Wow_. This was amazing, who would have thought that I would meet someone who had actually read my articles and offer me a job like that. I mean, what a turn of events. This morning I was jobless. This evening I get a job interview, a promotion, no less, at one of the best glossies. _Wow didn't cover it._ I fiddled with the card in my hands which read Mary Alice Cullen, Fashion Artistic Director, Moda.

Wait. _Cullen?_ I sneaked another peak over at Emmett and Edward. _No way._ Cullen. No wonder he looked so familiar. Edward fucking Cullen. Actor extraordinaire. _Oh my god._ I'm such an idiot. Leah and Emily, fellow freelancers at Vertigo were always gushing over him telling me how hot he was and following his latest sightings posted on various gossip websites. I had never been one to really follow the celebrity culture, in fact I despised it. Most of them were pathetic show-off's trying to get five minutes of fame. Ex-reality TV stars with not a brain cell between them, talentless people calling them musicians that couldn't play an instrument and wannabe actors and actresses. I just couldn't understand it why people wanted to be the centre of attention like that. I avoided anything with the label celebrity like the plague.

Why hadn't Rose said anything to me before I made a tit of myself and looked like a star-struck teenager? Great. No wonder he was giving me the evil eye when I was ogling him shamelessly earlier. He probably thinks I wanted an autograph or was going to start squealing at him. I peaked back at him, and found my eyes had met his again. His eyes seemed to bore right through me and his face flickered with some unrecognizable emotion. I flushed embarrassed to be caught staring yet again and adverted me gaze at the bottle in front of me. Oh, it was going to be a long night.


	2. Two

**Disclaimer: I only wish I could own twilight or any of the associated characters.**

**Assumptions**

**Chapter Two**

**EPOV**

As I stood next to my cousin who was sweet talking Jessica Stanley the well known society IT girl and semi-professional whore, my mind could only focus on the intriguing women in the corner of the room and I found myself glancing unthinkingly and repeatedly in her direction. Her head was resting in her arms on the table and she seemed to be in conversation with Alice and the blonde girl. I had noticed her as she was approaching our table with the blonde, and I had purposefully looked the other way. _Fans._ I had hoped that Emmett would take care of them as usual; I did not have the patience tonight to make small talk with insipid celebrity stalkers.

Emmett had been fielding away my unwanted admirers from day one. Even when we were at school together, in our teens Em would shield me from the overzealous flirtations from numbers of girls with his diversion tactics. Don't ask me what he does, I don't want to know, but I am grateful- he has got me out of more than one sticky situation in the past. But then they had both completely ignored Emmett and I and spoken instead to Alice giving me a chance to look at them. The blonde was tall, curvy and definitely attractive but had a smug smile and a knowing way about her. She was fit, but she knew it.

However, the brunette was a different creature completely. Long chestnut hair flowed down her shoulders. She was slim with soft curves and delicate porcelain skin. Unlike most girls she wasn't enhanced in any way, a natural beauty with barely even a trace of makeup on her skin. She had a small mouth with full pale red lips that looked soft. I wondered what it would feel like to touch them, to kiss them. But then looking into her face once more I noticed her eyes. Brown, smooth and so deep it's like they sucked me into their vortex. Then as I was looking at her I realized she was looking at me too. In the same moment she also realized I was looking at her. She blushed a violent shade of pink flushing her cheeks and smiled a sexy little smile.

_She knew._ She knew who I was and what I did for a living. Edward Cullen, always the actor. It's all they ever see. I could count my friends who truly knew who I was as a person on one hand. I lose count of the number of girls, women who come on to me on a daily basis. I get phone numbers, panties thrown at me, some even go straight in for the kill and try to seduce me but none of them want to get to know me. I haven't been on a date in a very long time.

'Edward? What do you think? Are you going?' Emmett's questions pulled me back to reality.

'Huh?' I had no idea what he and Stanley had been talking about.

'Mate- the charity gala, next week? Are you in? God, your moping again. We should have just left you at home to wallow.' Emmett was giving me one of his disapproving looks at my sudden mood change.

'Yeah, sure. Whatever. I need a fucking drink.' I stalked off to the bar, this night wasn't going well. As I reached the bar I immediately caught the attention of the barman.

'Two pints of lager and two shots of tequila, please,' I ordered quickly.

'Eddie, what's the matter with you?' Emmett joined me at the bar.

'Why are you still being nice to Stanley? I thought you had stopped with the second rate goods?' I teased him, avoiding his earlier question.

'Ah, I know. But she's so eager to please!' He let out a loud chuckle. Jessica Stanley has been giving Emmett sexual favours ever since we were at school. She was a social climber, but was notoriously skanky. I told him ages ago to stop that shit but he disagreed. Emmett McCarty had never been a one women man.

At that point our drinks appeared and I handed over a note to the barman. I pushed a shot glass towards Emmett and picked up the other one. Emmett held his up in a toast, 'To getting laid!' He chuckled again and I rolled my eyes at him before clinking my glass against his and downing the shot in one.

'So what do you think?' he said picking up his pint and gesturing towards the girls sat at the table with Alice. What did he mean? Did he like the girl with brown eyes? Did she like him? _Shit_. Maybe she was looking at him not me.

'Who? I questioned, taking a large gulp of my drink but still looking at the back of the captivating brunette.

'Rosalie Hale,' he replied, rolling his eyes at me again in disgust.

Now I was seriously confused. 'Huh?'

'Edward, did you leave your brain at home tonight? Rosalie Hale. The hot blonde catwalk model sitting talking to your sister'

_Ahhh._ He wasn't talking about brown eyes. He must be talking about blondie. '_What! Wait?_ She's a catwalk model?'

'_Duh!_ Where have you been? She's hot property at the moment, in every magazine. She's even modelled for Gucci.'

'Emmett, you're beginning to sound like Alice,'

'Shut up. You think I have a chance?' He looked down at me ponderingly but he was being deadly serious now.

'I don't know.' Emmett usually wasn't this nervous around girls.

'Only one way to find out,' I smiled at him and shook my head, and followed him as he weaved his way through the busy dance floor bringing me closer to where my subconscious wanted to be. Emmett slide round the circular table until he was next to blondie and I slid in next to him. Brown eyes was sitting across from me, looking intently at blondie, their expressions indicating some kind of silent conversation between the two. Emmett cleared his throat and blondie turned in her seat to look at Emmett. Watching Emmett flirt was always a sight to behold but something told me this was going to be entertaining. The girls, well Alice, fell silent and looked at Emmett expectantly.

'Hey ' He said plastering on his biggest smile. I noticed that he was still checking out Rosalie's body, his eyes racking over her chest.

'Eyes up here big boy,' she replied snapping her fingers in his face, 'And if you want to dance with me, which I'm assuming is what you're after, you had better come up with something more original than that.'

I watched as Emmett's eyes lit up. _Game on._ 'Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?'

Rosalie laughed. 'Not as much as when they must have kicked you out of hell…heard that one, keep trying,' _Ouch._ This girl gives as good as she gets.

Emmett chuckled and threw his arm round Rosalie's shoulder. 'Babe, I can tell that you want me.'

'Yeah, I want you to leave me alone…' she smiled at him.

'Come on. You're the most beautiful girl in the room.' He replied, smiling cockily.

'Well, I'd best go and find the best looking bloke in the room to dance with,' She retorted and started to get up. Was she rejecting him? This had to be a first- Emmett never failed to pull a girl he wanted, nor did he have to try very hard.

'Ahhh, Please Rosalie,' Emmett pouted at her his cheek's dimpling, 'Please dance with me?' Rosalie hesitated for a few seconds and then nodded, resulting in Emmett's face lighting up like a kid at Christmas. I stood up to let them pass and sat on the other side of the booth next to brown eyes.

As they stood up and made their way to the dance floor, Alice suddenly leapt up and flew after them holding her phone to her ear, 'Jazzy', I heard her purr as she headed towards the exit of the club. Alice's boyfriend Jasper was away on a conference and I knew she was missing him terribly.

_Great._ This left me alone with brown eyes. I looked over at her to find her looking up at me from underneath her dark eyelashes and again I was lost in the depth of her eyes. They looked unsure, embarrassed. She blushed and looked down at her hands, fiddling with her water bottle. Her hair fell in front of her face, creating a curtain shielding her eyes from my view. I was suddenly hit by the urge to sweep her hair behind her shoulder so I could look in her eyes again. I wanted to suddenly know everything about this woman in front of me.

Why had she blushed? She wasn't trying to talk to me. Maybe she wasn't going to? What was making her so uncomfortable and why had she laid her head down on the table earlier? She looked tired troubled, I wanted to know who or what had made her feel like that. I wanted to fix it for her. But would she tell me? I had no idea of how to approach her. She peeked up at me again, but I didn't avert my gaze, instead I searched her eyes for the answers to my unspoken questions.

But before I could register the emotions on her face she flushed again and she returned to playing with her bottle. What do I say? I could use a chat up line like Emmett, not that it had worked particularly well for him.

'Are you going to stare at me all night?' I heard a soft voice inquire. _Huh!_ _Wasn't expecting that._ I realized she was looking at me intensely now, her eyes colored with anger, irritation. She was waiting for an answer.

'Shit…um … I wasn't staring',' I faltered, 'I mean, I was… shit…sorry. I'm Edward.' I held up my hand to her. _Smooth, Edward._ She looked at me suspiciously, but I could see curiosity burning in her eyes.

'Bella,' she said curtly. _Bella. _As she placed her hand in mine I felt a sudden jolt of warmth burst from her fingertips like an electric shock, and spread up to my palm as I grasped her hand. The electric shock made my skin tingle where we touched, and my eyes involuntarily rose to find hers, we were momentarily frozen and a brief look of surprise colored her face. After she released my hand I placed it back in my lap underneath the table and flexed it. It still smarted a little from her tingling touch. _Weird._

'So what were you thinking about?' she asked, looking at me intently with her big brown eyes. Didn't someone write a song about that?

'Brown eyed girl,' I blurted out what was in my head. 'The song…you have…brown eyes.' _Way to go Edward. _You sound like a pervert_. _What happened to my brain to mouth filter? She blushed.

'Van Morisson,' she looked wistful, 'My dad used to sing it to me when I was little. Actually he still does as a joke.' She looked down again, fiddling with her now empty water bottle, a strand of hair fell in front of her eyes. My hands crept up above the table and reached forwards, without my permission. I managed to stop them from reaching out and tucking the lock of hair back behind her ear, and put them underneath the table safely in my lap.

'I can't think of any songs for green eyes,' she said a shy smile playing on her lips.

_Huh._ She obviously wasn't bothered by my verbal diarrhea. I leaned back studying her as I pondered. This girl was something different, I thought back to her response. Had she noticed my eye colour too? No, she's probably just mentioning it out of politeness.

'Nah! I don't think anyone has ever written anything about green eyes,' I chuckled.

'Well, maybe not a song but definitely in literature,' she looked up at me again '"It is the green eyed monster that doth mock the meat it feeds on",' she spoke the words quietly but powerfully. I was stunned for a moment, 'Sh..Shakespeare?' I gazed at her.

'Othello. You know Shakespeare?' she looked at me once more, smiling brilliantly her eyes sparkling. She was enjoying this. I decided to have some fun with her. I leaned in towards her.

'"There are more things in heaven and earth, Haratio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."' I threw a quote back at her and waited for her response.

She laughed quietly and mischief flickered in her eyes. 'Hamlet,' she said crossing her eyes. _Wow._ She knows her stuff. I was delighted she was playing along and watched her pondering for a moment.

'"It's not enough to speak, but to speak true."' She looked at me square in the eye as she quietly delivered the line and I was momentarily lost again in the depth of her eyes. It felt like she was piercing through my soul searching out my secrets. She blinked breaking my gaze and looking down at her hands.

'Um…Midsummer night's dream,' I saw her eyes narrow, but stayed focused looking at her hands. I slide my arm around the back of the booth around her and leaned in further towards her. I could feel the heat radiating from her body, she turned around suddenly in my arms to face me and then froze.

' "Love is not love, which alters when it alterative finds

Or bends with the remover to remove

No it is an ever fixed mark"'

I whispered the lines so familiar to me unconsciously, her expression softened and I heard her breathing hitch and pause. Our faces were inches apart, my thigh pressed against hers now as we had moved closer to each other during our exchange. Her scent radiated from her body with her warmth, a mixture of a spicy fruity smell of some unknown perfume and alcohol. Her brow furrowed as her eyes searched my face, and then her pained expression smoothed and before I had a moment to process the transition she closed the gap between our lips. I felt her lips press slowly, softly, against mine. Once. Twice. As I sat there frozen in the unexpected gesture. So sweet. And then as abruptly as she had kissed me she pulled back.

'Oh god, I'm so sorry…,' she started her checks flushing pink again, 'that was totally inappropriate of me. It's just you were looking at me like that and quoting sonnets at me…. I just couldn't help myself.'

Looking at her like what? Did she not want to kiss me? Why the hell did she do it then? She looked back down at her hands twisting in her lap and a curtain of hair fell across her face again. I swept it back across her shoulder, trailing my fingers down her soft locks, bringing my hand up to her face and resting my palm against her cheek where her eyes closed. Bringing her face up to mine I pressed my lips against hers reveling in their warmth. My tongue traced her full lower lip and her lips parted allowing me to caress her tongue with mine. As the kiss deepened our lips moved in perfect sync, our lips tasting exploring the new sensation, my hand wandered round the back of her neck and tangled in the hair at the nape. We broke apart too soon, breathing heavily. I nuzzled my face into her neck breathing in the scent of her hair, her hands resting lightly on my chest. I pulled back after a moment, my hand resting on the small of her back to look into her eyes. A slow smile pulled at her mouth and her eyes twinkled.

'Erm…I …need to go to the ladies,' she spoke quietly.

I looked at her unsure, 'You'll come back?' I didn't want to let her go just yet there was still so much I wanted to ask her and a repeat of that kiss. She nodded her smile lighting up her face once more and I stood up to let her pass. I sat back down stunned into silence, reflecting on the moments that had just passed. She was beautiful that was obvious, but also shy and self conscious and he could quote Shakespeare. But before I had time to analyze on our kiss, I saw Emmett and Rosalie slide into the booth in front of me.

'Where's Bella?' Rosalie asked looking pointedly at me, her eyes narrowed. It's like she knew what I had been thinking. 'Ladies,' I mumbled and she stood up in one swift moment and stalked off in the direction Bella had gone. I watched Emmett as he sat there, staring into space after Rosalie. 'You alright mate?'

'What?' he said, finally looking at me. I raised my eyebrows at him questioning.

'Rosalie,' he smiled 'she's amazing. I mean, she's hot for sure but she likes football and drinks beer…she's like my dream woman.' I smiled. 'She's sex on legs,' he continued, 'she can certainly dance, I thought I was going to explode. But she thought we should come and check on you two. Something about keeping an eye on Bella considering the day she's had, you know, loosing her job and everything.'

_Loosing her job?_ Why hadn't she told me this? 'Bella lost her job?' I burst out, staring at Emmett.

'Yeah,' he looked confused at my reaction, 'She was working for Vertigo, she's a journalist.'

_A journalist._ I knew it. I fucking knew it. Always the same. I could feel the blood beginning to boil in my veins. 'Bitch!' I was overwhelmed with fury, 'She was fucking trying it on with me Emmett. Why didn't you tell me she was a journo? Why didn't she tell me?' I propelled myself out of my seat to face him. I was sick of being used so other people can get their five minutes of fame.

'Just so she can get a story. What was I thinking? I should have known better than to even bother with someone like that…'

I heard a gasp behind me, breaking my flow of words. I spun on my heels and turned to face the direction of the voice. Bella stood there, eyes wide, looking at me. She heard it all. Good. Now she would know wouldn't be getting her story. Rosalie stood behind her glaring at me furiously, if looks could kill. I looked back at Bella expecting to see a similar expression of fury on her face but my gut wrenched when I saw the tears rolling down her cheeks, her face a picture. A swirl of emotions flickered in the atmosphere around us and Bella glanced at me once more before turning and running out of the club followed swiftly by Rosalie. I turned to look at Emmett and was surprised to find him looking as angry as Rosalie had been.

'What?' I said raising my eyebrows.

**AN: Re-edited on 30.12.09**


	3. Three

**Disclaimer: I do not own twilight or any of the associated characters. **

**Chapter Three**

**BPOV**

As I rolled over in bed the sudden movement made my body protest. My head lolled painfully, my brain felt like it had solidified into a stone and was rattling round in my skull. A dull ache seeped through the rest of my body and my stomach gurgled sickeningly. I rolled over again willing myself to go back to sleep but I was all too aware of feeling in my body. I tried to remember how many drinks I had consumed? Red wine getting ready at the flat with Rose and Angela. Tequilla slammers at the bar with Rose. And then more at the bar later by myself. Mixing drinks was never a good idea and a sure fire way to one hell of a hangover.

As I rolled over once more, flashes of scenes from last night returned to my memory as I started to wake up. Dancing with Rosalie. Offer of a job from Alice. Alice rolling her eyes knowingly at me as Rose and Emmett ogled each other and eventually sloped of to the dance floor probably for some dancing of the dirtiest kind. Warm soft lips and the taste of larger with a hint of peppermint. _Edward Cullen!_ I sat up too quickly, causing the stone in my head to rattle. The light filtering through the gap in my curtains was too bright for my sore eyes. I fell back onto my pillow, reliving the events of my evening featuring Edward Cullen. Two memories burned in my brain standing out from the rest of the evening.

_That Kiss._ I hadn't meant to kiss him. But he had been just so, I don't know, different. Different to the men and different to what I had expected him to be like. Well, at least at first. I mean, who quotes Shakespeare. I know, I know. I quoted it to him first, it just came out while I was looking into those pretty green eyes of his. But i hadn't expected him to respond. Like for like. I was so lost in the moment I kissed him. And he kissed me back. It was so hot, I mean, I've never been kissed like that. I can still remember the taste, the feeling. It's that feeling that will be burnt into my memory for ever.

And then later, him standing there, ranting at Emmett and those words 'I should know better than to bother with someone like that...' he had practically yelled. Someone like me. A nobody. I don't understand what had happened. One moment we were kissing then I left to go to the ladies, he asked me to go back to him. Then he was angry at me, fuming, his eyes alight. His words and fierce eyes chilled me to my soul and had stung like nothing before.

I turned back over again, my hangover still racing through my body but not painful enough to wash away the memories from last night. My stomach responded to the smell of bacon cooking that was wafting through my door. After savouring the smell for a while longer I rolled out of bed and stumbled through to the kitchen still in my pyjamas and onto a stall at the breakfast bar.

Rosalie placed a bacon roll and glass of orange juice in front of me without saying a word and leaned back against the counter, crossing her arms and giving me a look that told me she hadn't forgotten about last night.

'Thanks,' my voice sounded raspy. I supped my orange juice and squeezed some ketchup into the bacon roll. Rosalie raised her eyebrow at me as I bit into the roll. I glared back at her. I had refused to say anything last night in the cab home about what had happened between me and Edward. Hell, even I didn't know what had happened. She hadn't put up a fight last night but I knew I was going to have to give her something today to get her to leave me alone. And keeping from going after Edward with a baseball bat. Rosalie's arms shifted to place her hands on her hips, she glared at me again before opening her mouth. I interrupted her before she had a chance to speak.

'Fine,' I placed my roll back on the plate. 'Edward and I got talking while you and Emmett were off virtually having sex fully clothed on the dance floor- don't think I didn't notice,' I paused. 'I left to go to the toilet where I saw you. You know the rest.'

Rosalie folded her arms across her chest once more, 'But why did he go off on one then? What were you guys even talking about?'

'I don't know Rose,' I was getting exasperated. 'We were talking about Shakespeare.' I picked up my roll and took another bite.

'_Shakespeare?_ Bella, only you could meet the most eligible bachelor in showbiz, talk to him about Romeo and flaming Juliet and then piss him off royally in one night,' she laughed. But I knew she hadn't bought it.

'Are you going to call Alice now?' Rosalie cut to the chase.

'I don't know,' I hesitated, chewing slowly on another bite of my breakfast. Was it appropriate to take a job offer from the sister of someone you kissed last night? Even if they didn't know about it? 'You think she meant it?'

'Sure. Alice is one of the only few genuine people in the fashion business.'

'I'm not sure. I mean- _its Moda_,' I finished the last of my roll.

'And what about_ Moda_? It's a good opportunity for you- Moda's a really good magazine. I know the Editor- at least you know this time you'll be hired for your writing abilities,' she replied.

'Exactly. I don't want to fuck this up,'

'You won't fuck it up. Here,' she threw me the cordless phone.

'Okay, okay,' I stomped off to my room, throwing the door shut behind me and fished the business card out of the pocket of last night's discarded jeans. I tapped in the number and held the phone to my ear taking a deep breath.

'Good morning. Ms. Cullen's office,' a musical voice answered.

'Hi. I'm Bella Swan. I was wondering if it was possible to speak with Ms. Cullen?' I replied.

'One moment, Ms. Swan. Ms. Cullen has been expecting your call and asked for you to be put straight through,' the secretary replied.

'Oh. Okay, thanks,' I waited for a moment and after a series of clicks I heard a familiar voice.

'Bella!' she exclaimed 'You called!'

'Hey, Alice. How are you?' I replied politely.

'I'm good, I'm good. Listen I set up a meeting for you with Carmen the editor, is 10am tomorrow ok?'

'Yeah. That's great Alice. Thankyou.' _It's not like I would be up to much tomorrow with no job to go to._

'No problem. Now I've faxed her a copy of your London fashion week article. I need you to email me a couple of other articles and your CV ASAP and I'll forward them over to her office.'

'Okay.'

'Make sure you're early- she hates tardiness and wear something with a bit of originality- you know make you stand out a bit. But other than that you'll be fine. Carmen's really not as scary as she seems- just be yourself and you'll be fine.'

'Thankyou so much, Alice. I really don't know how to thank you properly. This job is a lifesaver.'

'Don't worry about it. You're doing me a favour, really. I'm gonna get serious brownie points from Carmen for head hunting you and Rose never shuts about you. I could do with an ally in this place,' she said firmly.

I laughed, slightly embarrassed. 'Erm...thanks!'

'Now don't forget to email me. Let me know how you get on.'

'I will. Bye Alice.'

'Bye, Bella,' she replied as we hung up.

A key jostled in the front door as it opened followed by a bang as it shut. 'Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in,' Rosalie smirked at Angela as she walked in. It was late in the evening and we were eating Chinese takeaway. Rose had insisted on celebrating my new job despite the fact that my interview was tomorrow and I hadn't even got the job yet.

'How was the date?' I asked Angela as she stopped in the middle of the lounge.

'Ben proposed!' she shrieked, waving her left hand at us.

'Oh my god,' I was stunned, 'Congratulations!' I squealed unable to help myself.

Rose jumped off the sofa and yanked Angela down to sit with us, the Chinese forgotten. 'About time too. Show us the bling, then.' She demanded grabbing Angela's hand and examining the diamond ring on her third finger. 'It's good,' she said 'Your boy chose well.' Angela and I rolled our eyes at each other.

'So- how did he ask?' I looked to Angela.

'Oh, it was so sweet,' she gushed 'He told me to meet him at the bookshop and he had a picnic spread out on a blanket- you know, champagne, strawberries- the works. And he told me he loved me and missed me when I wasn't there and then he asked me. It was beautiful, more perfect than I can ever imagine.' A small tear rolled down her check, 'I'm just so happy.'

My own eyes wet in response and I flung my arms round Angela, followed by Rosalie's arms which I could feel wrapped around us both. After a moment Rosalie's arms relinquished us, 'Enough of the mushy stuff. We have to think practically- Did you set a date? And I had bloody better be a bridesmaid! I want to pick my own dress. Your gonna need my help,' she eyed us both.

'Of course your both going to be bridesmaid's – Hayley's going to be my maid of honour,'

I grinned at Angela, 'Thankyou! This is going to be so cool. Were you thinking a spring or summer wedding?' I asked her.

'Erm...well, about that,' Angela began, 'We did set a date- the hotel had a cancellation and it was such a good offer we couldn't resist.'

'So, what's the problem?' I was confused, it sounded like they had it all sorted.

'It's October 24th- this year,' she said quickly and paused for our reaction.

'October!' Rosalie raised her eyebrows in surprise, 'But that's two months away- 8 weeks'

'I know its quick, but it's what Ben and I want. We don't want to wait to get married. The hotel is back near my parent's home- my Mum and Ben's Mum are going to sort out the venue- food, cake, flowers- the actual wedding. Shouldn't be too difficult to organize,' she paused again, 'but Ben's asked me to move in with him...he wants me to move in right away and you know I love living with you guys and I hate to leave you in the lurch what with the rent but...' she tailed off.

'Angela,' I interrupted, 'Move in with Ben.' I said forcefully, 'I'm surprised you two have been living apart this long- we have kind of been waiting for this.'

'Are you sure?' she asked.

'Sure,' Rosalie replied, 'We can cover the rent between us easily. Especially since this one has just landed herself a job at Moda,' she pointed at me.

'What? How?' she eyed me incredulously.

I explained to Angela about the previous night out, the job offer from Alice, 'talking' with Edward and then him getting all angry. Rose and Angela decided it must have been a mood swing from a crazy celebrity and nothing I had done. I wasn't entirely convinced and wasn't sure that they would be if I had told them what really happened between Edward and me. We spent the rest of the night brain storming for the wedding, talking flowers and bridesmaids dresses, which kept me busy and stopped me worrying about tomorrows pending interview but did not distract me from the memories of kissing a certain bronze-haired actor that kept flashing through my mind.

The small sofa in I was seated on in the lobby area reminded me of a doctor's or dentists waiting room. The secretary sat at her desk, her long glossy nail tap tapping on the keyboard irritating my already frayed nerves. It was five minutes to ten. I had arrived early at Carmen's office on the top floor of the high rise building occupied by Moda magazine on the edge of Covent Garden, as instructed by Alice. My Rosalie-approved interview outfit of a soft cream blouse tucked into a navy pencil skirt and finished off with patent black heels I hoped was original enough to endear me to the editor. A phone trilled in the background and the secretary picked up the phone and spoke after a brief pause, 'Yes...I'll send her in,' she turned to look at me, 'Ms. Ross says you can go in now,' a fake smile plastered on her face matching the rest of her fake persona.

I stood, nodding my thanks in her direction and walked over to the office door and knocked once. My throat suddenly felt very dry.

'Come in,' I heard a muffled call from the other side and I opened the door. You could tell this was definitely the editor's office- it was decorated minimally but very stylishly- definitely a women's touch. It was massive with dual aspect windows. Inside was a women dressed to power-suit perfection with pristine make up, her skin an olive colour and her black hair smooth.

'Isabella,' Carmen greeted me, 'Can I call you Bella? Alice has been really singing your praises.'

'Of course, Ms. Ross. Bella's fine. And, thank you, for interviewing me today.'

'My pleasure. So your CV shows you've been freelancing at Vertigo magazine? Why did you leave?'

_Shit. What am I going to say? She doesn't mess around. Nothing like starting with the difficult questions first. _Honesty is always the best policy.

'I'm afraid the editor and myself had a bit of a..., ' I searched for the right word, 'misunderstanding- he terminated my contract and I felt it was probably time to spread my wings- try something new._' Hmmm I hope that sounds plausible._

'Well... I'm... let's say...familiar... with Jacob Black. I'm just surprised you lasted as long as you did freelancing for him- he notoriously treats his employees' like crap.'

I stayed silent, not knowing how to respond.

'So what makes you want to work for Moda?' Carmen moved onto the next question.

'You mean, why would I want to work for the UK's most popular and bestselling women's magazine?' I chuckled, 'I want to be a better writer. I'm not sure exactly where my talents are best off yet- that's why I'm freelance. I'm hoping working for Moda will present me with a bigger challenge, so I can learn new skills.' _Was I bluffing now? I'm not sure. Did she know?_

Carmen smiled at me. 'Well, I'm impressed with your articles- you're a very talented writer. Here's our contract for freelancer's, she handed me a set of stapled papers.' 'We'd be happy to have you on board.'

'You're offering me the job?' I asked, surprise coloured me tone.

'Yes,' Carmen laughed, 'Can you start tomorrow?'

'Er...yeah. Thanks.' I smiled

'Great. You'll be working under Kate if you ask for her at the front desk tomorrow, you start at nine and she'll get you settled.'

She stood up and I followed her to my feet.

'Thankyou. I'm looking forward to working at Moda.' I said as I shook her hand.

'I'm looking forward to working with you, too, Bella' she replied.

'Bye.' I walked out of the office and passed the secretary almost skipping. My luck was definitely in as the lift doors opened and someone stepped out as soon as I reached them. I walked in, pressing the button for the entrance lobby and waited for the doors to close behind me before I did a small victory dance. _Yes! Go Bella!_ Yesterday I became unemployed, today I got a promotion. Things were looking up.


	4. Four

**Disclaimer: I do not own twilight or any of the associated characters. This story is purely for fun and to keep me entertained during my long commutes on the train, to and fro the city.**

**Chapter Four**

**EPOV**

As I walked into the club I felt a familiar sense of déjà vu- this scenario felt somewhat familiar. I walked past the bar round the heaving dance floor, automatically, my feet directing me. She was sitting there, looking directly at me, forehead furrowed in conversation, brown eyes searching. What was she looking for? I walked over to her subconsciously, my feet taking me closer and into her line of sight. I was still watching her. Suddenly, her face broke into an expression of unmentionable beauty. A smile lit up her face, her eyes searching in a different way- they locked onto mine. I approached faster now, until I was standing within an arms length of her. Her body positioned to face me, her hand raised outstretched to mine. Involuntarily, my hand reached out to hers, our fingers entwined. 'You're here,' she breathed, 'You're finally here.' I smiled back at her, raising our entwined hands to touch her cheek with my fingertips, 'I'm here.' I leaned down and leant in closer to her, our face moments apart. I closed my eyes, I could feel her warm breath on my face, smell her scent swirling around us, 'Edward,' she moaned in a low voice. _'Edward!'_ Wait...where was that coming from? _'Edward,'_ the voice was getting louder and impatient now, _'Edward_!' I focused back on the woman in my arms. 'Bella?' I mumbled. I felt a hand shake my shoulder and opened my eyes again. It was pitch black and I was sitting down. Where had the club gone? 'Bella?' Where was Bella?

'No- it's Heidi. We're at the airport now.'

Heidi. Airport. Dammit, I was so close that time. It was all a dream. Well- not entirely- I'm pretty sure meeting Bella, kissing Bella, shouting at Bella, had been reality but the re-enactment was definitely all in my imagination. I realized the car had stopped now and Heidi was turned round in the front passenger seat giving me funny looks. 'I'm awake, I'm awake. What time is it?' I asked, still disorientated from falling asleep.

'3.36am,' Heidi replied, 'It took me, like, five minutes to wake you up. And who's Bella?' she raised an eyebrow at me questioningly. Heidi, my assistant, was far too good. When it came to organizing me and all of my commitments it was incredibly handy, but less so when it came to keeping my personal life personal.

'Bella's...' I stalled. _What was Bella?_ Friend? No, friends don't make other friends cry. Nor do they kiss them? An acquaintance, then? No, I hardly even know Bella. Yet I know her enough to know what her kisses taste like. Heidi was eyeing me suspiciously again, and realized I had given away too much with my deliberation, 'Bella's...I don't know.' It was a non answer.

'You, Edward, are being really weird lately,' Heidi stated.

'Thanks,' I frowned. I pushed all thoughts of Bella from my mind. 'Tell me why we are doing this again?' I gestured to us sitting in the car. No one in their right mind should be up at this time in the morning, no less sitting in a car at Heathrow.

'L.A. Promotional tour for the "survivors" film. I know you hate it but you gotta take the lows with the highs. Plus you've got the premier to look forward to.'

I rolled my eyes at her, 'I meant, why are we getting a flight at this ridiculous hour of the morning?'

'Less people. Less paparazzi,' her phone beeped, 'speaking of which, Felix has given us the all clear- let's go.'

I grabbed my overnight bag and opened the car door, stepping out onto the pavement. Felix was waiting for us and guided us through the terminal, checking in and passing through security with a minimum amount of fuss. I guess the benefit of getting a flight this early is that not many people are about to recognize you. Although the downside is that the paparazzi get a few shots of you looking half-asleep, and judging by the couple of blinding flashes I saw, my current whereabouts would make an appearance in the gossip rags in the morning.

I played with my phone as I waited in the VIP departure lounge, but it didn't seem long until I was seated on the plane and we were taking off. Flying first class was a perk of my job I had quickly gotten used to, although having an assistant took a bit more time. I had initially tried to manage my diary myself but after managing to double booked myself and being late for almost everything in the first week, Alice had taken it upon herself to find Heidi for me. As my profile had risen, Heidi had found Felix for me- I never knew if she hired him for his professional skills or his other qualities- Heidi and Felix had been together for some time now.

I plugged myself into my ipod and put it on shuffle. I was planning on sleeping for this flight, as lately left to its own devices my brain had been slipping into dangerous territory. The events surrounding Bella and that night in the club had been playing through my mind on a continuous loop ever since. Quotes of Shakespeare mingled in with soft lips and unexpected kisses. The memory of that kiss, passionate and trembling with underlying emotions couldn't be erased- it made my heart yearn. But it was juxtaposed with big brown eyes swimming with tears, making my heart plummet into the pit of my stomach. I had made her cry, but she had deserved it, hadn't she? Why didn't she tell me about her job? Surely, she would have known that sort of information would have been best not kept as a secret. I wasn't sure- if I was in the right then why did I feel so bad, so sick to my stomach whenever I thought about the whole thing?

_Ahhhh._ _I had done it again._ Pull yourself together, man. I was thinking about her again. I squeezed my eyes tight shut and forced myself to focus on my breathing until I eventually drifted off to sleep.

The next few days went in a flurry of precisely scheduled activity thanks to Heidi. News of my departure at Heathrow had obviously spread due to an enlarged presence of photographers waiting for me at L.A.X. I had spent the last few days dutifully working my way through various interviews, photo shoots, and other meetings. Promotion was my least favourite part of the film industry but I endured it as it opened up so many new opportunities for me.

It was late in the evening when I was finally dropped back off at my hotel by Heidi and Felix, who were taking the opportunity to grab some dinner at a restaurant whilst I took advantage of the hotels room service. I made my way through the lobby and stepped into the waiting lift pressing my floor number. I stood in the lift waiting to reach my floor and rubbed my eyes. All I wanted was some food, a shower and then sleep. _Lots of sleep._ At that thought I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I checked the caller ID- Emmett.

'Hello?' I answered the call.

'Papa Joe's Pizza Place,' I could hear Emmett sniggering at the end of the line.

'Emmett, that shit only works when you're answering the phone not calling someone and definitely not when they know whose calling.'

'I know, still funny though,' he laughed at his own joke. I rolled my eyes and laughed at him.

'So?' he asked eagerly.

'So, what?' The lift doors pinged open and I strode down the corridor towards my room.

'Aren't you going to ask how it went?'

'How what went?' I was toying with him; I knew exactly when he was talking about. Since he hadn't managed to get Blondie's number that night at the club, Emmett had asked Alice for her number who had refused. So Emmett had taken to calling Alice every hour on the hour for a day before Jasper had finally relented at 2am and had given Emmett Rosalie's number on pain of death if Alice ever found out where he had gotten it from.

'Fuck off, Edward. My date with Rosalie,' I opened the door with my key card and threw it on the table in the living room area of the suite.

I laughed at Emmett again, 'Go on then. Tell me,'

'She's the hottest thing on the planet. I mean, fuck, she's beautiful and smart and funny'. I sat down on the sofa cradling the phone to my ear and begun took my shoes off.

'Where'd you take her?' I asked genuinely interested now.

'To that fancy Italian place, you know near Mayfair, well to start with...'

'What do o you mean to start with?' He just said the date went well- she couldn't have ditched him.

'She kept checking her watch the whole time... I asked her if she had somewhere to be- she wanted to watch the fucking footie game. Turns out she's a gunners fan. So we legged it out of there and ended up in the pub with beer and nachos. Best fucking date ever.'

'Wow,' I said. I was stunned. Rosalie didn't seem the type to want football and beer.

'I know,' he said. I could picture his smug smile, 'You should have seen her, man. Shouting at the screen and talking statistics. And the best thing is- she loved it. Kissed me at the end of the night, as well, before I could even get in there. We're going out tomorrow night.'

'A second date?' I mean one date with Emmett is unusual behaviour but a second date? I've never seen Emmett react like this with a girl before. 'You must really like her'.

'Yeah, I do. I really, really like her...' he rambled off. I flicked open the menu for room service and reached for the hotel phone, dialling for room service. At least I could fulfil one part of my food-shower-sleep plan. I heard someone pick up on the other end.

'Hang on a minute, Em,' I lifted the other phone to my ear.

'Hi- Can I order some room service, please?'

'Yes,' a feminine voice answered.

'I'll have a margarita pizza, thanks. It's Mr. Cullen, room 319.' I was a pro at ordering room service by now.

'Excellent, Mr. Cullen. It'll be about 15 minutes.'

'Thanks, Bye.' I hung up the phone and picked up my iphone again. 'Em- You still there?'

'Yeah,' he replied, 'Hungry?' I laughed.

'Yeah. Heidi and Felix have gone out to eat.'

'So, did you hear what I said about Bella?'

My body tensed up in reaction, my chest swelling and my stomach lurched. I had spent the past few days trying not to think about Bella. But I found her voice, her smile, those eyes, even her smell infiltrating my senses at unexpected moments, I wondered if something was wrong with me. I found myself daydreaming about what she was doing, thinking about that night in the club and wondering if she thinking about me.

'What about Bella?'

'Rosalie said that Bella said that you two talked- _about Shakespeare?_' I could hear the laughter he was trying to hold back, in his voice.

_Bella said we just talked._ _Interesting. _ 'And?'

'So what happened?' Why the screaming hissy fit?'

'She didn't tell me, Emmett.' I sighed. 'She's a fucking journalist and she didn't tell me. Don't you think I had a right to know about it?' I could feel myself getting heated again.

'She'd just lost her job, you think that was something she wanted to broadcast? She didn't have to tell you. She's not the same as her you know.'

'How do you know?' I hissed down the phone, surprised at the tone in my own voice.

'And how do you know? You never even gave her a chance, Edward.' I fell silent. 'You never give anyone a chance.' His voice was calm, quiet.

_Is this what people really think of me?_ This conversation was getting stilted. _How was I supposed to respond to that?_

'Spoken to the half-pint recently?' Emmett spoke lifting the tension.

I chuckled. 'Nah, not for a few days. You know Alice get's moody when Jasper's away- I tend to steer clear.'

'Yeah, know what you mean!' He responded.

'Anyway. I need to get a shower, I stink and my foods coming.'

'Alright mate, I'll let you go. I'd never get between a man and his pizza'

'Be back Sunday morning. We'll catch up then?'

'Yeah. Sounds good. See ya later, alligator.' I laughed out loud and shook my head.

'Bye, Emmett.' I said pointedly, hanging up.


	5. Five

**Disclaimer: I am unfortunately not blessed enough to own twilight or these characters- I just borrow them for a little while. Enjoy! **

**Chapter Five**

**BPOV**

I sipped my coffee as I sat at my desk sifting through the email in my inbox, enjoying a moment of peace and quiet in what was bound to be another noisy and hectic day. My new desk was located in an open plan office and was not in the best of locations- it was too far from the windows to gain any scrap of natural light and too close to Kate, my supervisors, office. We had a flexible hours' policy- at 8.45am I think I was the only one in the office yet. Kate's office light is on but she didn't seem to be in. Most of my colleagues rarely made it into the office before 10am.

I had been at _Moda_ for a week and a half now and to say it was different from _Vertigo_ would be an understatement. _Moda_ magazine was a different entity completely- more fashionable, streamlined, glitzy- and this office and its occupants reflected that. I was working in the entertainment department which covered films, music, books, art galleries etc. Kate the general editor and all round boss women to myself and fellow lackeys had been welcoming for the brief moment I had seen her on my first day. Other than that I had generally been shown the ropes by a reluctant Lauren Mallory- a plastic looking bleached blonde with a face like something smelt nasty under her nose, and rather overeagerly by Mike Newton who said he was a photographer but I had yet to see any evidence of that fact.

Alice had shown up on my first day at lunch time to the surprise of Lauren and Mike, and had practically torn my arm off to drag me out to lunch. That developed a routine which had developed every day since then for which I was grateful for more than one reason. Firstly, because Mike had taken to hinting that he wanted to have a lunch 'date' together and secondly because Lauren had taken an intense dislike to me ever since Kate had given me an article on Jordan's latest autobiography that apparently she had wanted. Plus, Alice was really cool and we were fast becoming firm friends, despite that fact she was Edward's sister. _Damn it._ I had thought about him again.

For some stupid reason in the week following the 'incident' as I had taken to calling it in my head, I had not been able to stop thinking about Edward Cullen. I still couldn't work out what really happened- one minute we're getting on brilliantly- the next he was having a temper tantrum that put a five year old to shame. Rosalie had also bought it up a couple of times in casual conversation- I knew she was doing it to gauge my reaction to her questioning. She suspected that there was more going on that night than just 'talking'. And she'd be right, but I wasn't going to let her know that. So after looking up Edward on Google and finding his Wikipedia page, I decided that I had finally cracked. I was turning into some crazy fan girl.

Did I find anything interesting? Yes.

Dad- doctor, Mum- chef and restaurant owner. One sister- of course. Cambridge educated and joined footlights dramatics society, hence acting. Nominated for one academy award, awarded most wanted bachelor by our very own _Moda_ magazine.

Did it explain why he had a total hissy fit the other night? No.

So I banned myself from thinking about him. It wasn't my fault. It wasn't anything I had done. It was pointless to stew over it. It wasn't like I would see him again. _Or so I kept telling myself._

I sighed and opened up a fresh word processing document to write up a book review article I had been given. The book in my opinion was badly written and monotone, but I couldn't be too scathing in my review. I needed this job. A few minutes later I was taking notes when I heard hurried footsteps in the office and I glanced up to see a stressed looking Kate.

'Bella,' she sounded frantic, 'have you seen Lauren? Is she in yet?'

'No. It's just me. Is she supposed to be in?' I frowned. Lauren had boasted yesterday afternoon about going to the launch of a new perfume by some c-list celebrity, fanning the tickets in her face with a glint in her eyes. _Please_. It had only infuriated her more as I had just shrugged. Like spending the evening with brain dead celebrities and freeloaders would be something to be jealous of.

'She's meant to be interviewing at 9am and he's _early_,' Kate tugged at the ends of her hair nervously, 'And there hasn't even been coffee ordered for the conference room. Bella- can you do me a massive favour- could you go over to Cafe Roma for me?' She looked at me her eyes pleading.

_Great._ Now I was reduced to a general dogsbody.

'Sure.' I replied with a weak smile. I had to start learning to say no.

'Thank you so much. He wants an extra large black coffee, two sugars. And can you get me a skinny decaf latte?' She flashed a brief smile at me and thrust a £5 note in my hand.

'And if you see Lauren on your travels, she has 10 minutes to get to that interview. I'll meet you outside conference room 2.'

And with that she turned on her heels and ran back to her office, leaving me momentarily stunned. Was it normal for Kate to be this flustered? I wasn't sure, but I knew she could be fierce and I wasn't about to test her patience right now. I scooped my handbag off my desk and made my way back out of the office with a sigh.

The coffee shop thankfully hadn't been too busy. Not that it mattered- Alice had introduced me to Paulo, the owner, on my first day informing me this was the best place to eat in the whole of Covent Garden and we had eaten there nearly every day for lunch since. The helpful barista had put a rush on my order and within minutes I was back at the office strolling along the corridor towards conference room 2. Kate was a little way from the door, pacing up and down and holding her phone to her ear, muttering something under her breath. My watch read 9.10am. She looked up as she heard me approach her.

'Bella! Thank god,' she proclaimed, removing the phone from her ear and snapping it shut.

'She's not answering her phone...god, I don't know what's happened...And I should have been at an editors meeting 10 minutes ago. _Shit. Shit. Shit._' She looked at her watch and tugged on the ends of her hair again. 'I could kill Lauren'. The look in her eyes flashed with anger.

I glanced at her, unsure of what to do, still holding the two coffees.

'Look, Bella, you're gonna have to do the interview.' She smiled at me now, obviously happy with the solution to her problem.

'_What?_...I...no...Kate...I don't think I can, I'm not prepared!' I began to feel a surge of panic shoot through my system. 'I don't even know what it's for,' I pleaded.

'Sure you can. It's for a promotion for that new action film- you know- it's out next week. Just ask these questions,' she put a folder into my hands, 'flutter your eye lashes and it'll be fine. It's only a short interview for a small promotional article. He's a nice guy- for an actor- and a friend of Carmen's. I can't afford for this to go wrong. I trust you. '

_Okay._ Looks like I'm not going to have a choice in the matter.

'Fine,' I conceded. I wasn't happy. Not only had I just landed myself with an interview with some self obsessed celebrity that I didn't want to do but Lauren Mallory was seriously going to be pissed at me. I could only hope I come out of this alive. _This day can't get any worse._

I followed Kate as she headed up the corridor, knocking on the door lightly before opening it and stepping in. The conference room was bright thanks to a large amount of natural light coming in from two windows on one wall, and had a large board room table in the centre. I focused on placing the two coffees' carefully on the table.

'I'm so sorry, Mr. Cullen,' I heard Kate begin but the rest was lost on me. I snapped my head up and found myself staring onto the soft green eyes that had featured in my dreams since 'the incident'. They sparkled with surprise, a look of shock playing on his perfect face. He was even better looking that I remembered. I found myself paralysed to the spot, my heart pounding painfully in my chest. He was dressed casually in a black polo shirt, khaki shorts and flip flops. His hair an artful dishevelled mess and a light scruff covered his jaw line. I felt that same sensation as the night of the club, my heart pounding fast still, my stomach giddy, full of a thousand butterflies as nervous energy surrounded me. I couldn't take my eyes off him. A strange force was drawing me to him; I wanted to get as close to him as possible.

He took a step forwards, '_Bella?_' his voice was the same rich velvety tone and shook me out of my stupor and back into the present situation. I found my voice at last, but it sounded strange to my ears when I finally spoke.

'_Edward._ Nice to see you.' _ Again._

I focused my gaze on Kate who was standing there incredulously looking between Edward and I. 'Do you know Mr. Cullen, Bella?' she asked me. _Did I know Edward? Intimately._

'Erm...yeah. Friend of a friend.' _Who kissed me._ I tried to sound vague and act nonchalantly, avoiding Edward's stare. I placed the folder on the desk trying to dissipate the awkward situation.

'Oh. You didn't say?' Turning to me she raised an eyebrow questioningly. _Oops. Going to have to fess up now. _

'I wasn't aware that Mr. Cullen was the interviewee,' I replied avoiding the question completely, risking a glance in Edward's direction.

'Well,' Kate replied, turning back to Edward, 'Since Ms. Mallory is unwell as I explained would it be okay if Ms. Swan conducted your interview today?'

Was he going to say no? I thought back to our last encounter. He didn't look angry...he looked... surprised...humorous...pleased?

'Certainly, that would be perfect. I hope Ms. Mallory is feeling better soon,' he flashed his trademark crooked smile at us.

Kate thanked him in response and dashed out of the room, presumably to make her editors meeting. I looked over at Edward still standing there watching me, smirking now, with humour colouring his eyes. _Great_. Well, at least one of us finds this funny.

Reminders of that night flashed in my mind in quick succession, as vivid as ever, as I stood before him. _His hot breath on my neck. His soft bronze hair in my fingertips. The anger in his eyes as he yelled "she's just after a story."_

_I can do this._ _Just get the interview Bella. Keep it professional._ I motioned for him to sit down at the table as I sat and took his coffee out of the cardboard holder. 'Extra large black coffee, two sugars.' I said pushing it in front of him.

'Thanks,' I heard him murmur as I opened my handbag. I could still feel his eyes on me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him take a long sip reverently from the cup. I pulled out my Dictaphone, sending out a silent prayer to the god's that is had some battery and located a pen after some scrabbling at the bottom of my bag. I opened the folder in front of me to the page of questions, all the time feelings his eyes on me.

'So...' I started, finally looking up into those green eyes which looked at me expectantly before being abruptly interrupted.

'Bella, can I just...'

'Edward,' I cut him off, 'Whatever you have to say, I don't want to hear it. I don't know what you think of me, but I can assure you that I have no idea that I was going to be interviewing you. I only agreed to do this because Lauren didn't turn up and I don't want to be here anymore than you do. So let's just keep this professional and get this over with. _Okay?_'

I glared at him pointedly to see if he had been listening to what I had been saying.

'Fine,' he responded tersely, his face was sullen. 'Ask away.'

He took a long sip of his coffee and I was momentarily distracted by his Adam's apple bobbing up and down in his throat. 'Okay...'

That went better than I thought; at least he's not going to argue with me. I grabbed my Dictaphone, opening the cassette holder and checking the length of tape left on the reel. I flipped it over and clicked it shut, settling it on the table after pressing the red record button. There was a note of topics not to ask him about- his love life, his family, James Matthews? _Who?_ Basically, anything the gossip mags would have a field day over.

I looked at the sheet of the questions and read the first one, "How do you relate to your characters reaction to the end of the world?" it read. _End of the world?_ I read the next question, "What was the best scene to film?" Well that's helpful. I scanned quickly through the rest of the questions and found more standard questions about filming, the cast, what was it like on location, what was he working on next.

Bu could I really sit here and ask Edward Cullen questions like that- hell I wasn't even going to be able to understand the answers. These questions were crap- who did the research for this interview? Definitely Lauren. She probably planned on just flirting with him. I realized I was taking too long and had to think fast. Do I admit that I have no idea what I'm doing? He'll think I'm an idiot who doesn't know how to do her job properly. _Shit._ _Fuck. Crap._ What have I gotten myself into?

**Another chapter, this one has been long in the making but I have been inundated with uni work. Anyways, I don't know if anyone is actually out there reading this- it would be nice to get some reviews? What do you all think? Thanks, Bill xx**


	6. Six

**Disclaimer: I am unfortunately not blessed enough to own twilight or these characters- I just borrow them for a little while. Enjoy! **

**Chapter Six**

**EPOV**

I'm not sure how I ended up sitting here. What started out as a favour to an old friend has turned into some weird pseudo-nightmare. I didn't even want to do this interview- I only got back from LA yesterday morning and no matter how many times I fly long haul the jet lag always kills me. So this morning I had woken up late from another dream featuring a certain gorgeous brunette at that club and had to high tail it to this interview. I had even sacrificed my morning coffee and then they had the nerve to keep me waiting. I'm no diva but I had waited for twenty minutes with the promise of coffee and no one had turned up. _I mean, what the hell?_

I have absolutely no problem with waiting but I could see that Kate women pacing up and down the corridor every now and then through the glass next to the door. _And still no coffee._ Even Emmett knows that I need my coffee in the morning before I can really function properly.

I was just about to phone Heidi to see why was going on. I thought maybe I had fucked up on the time or day or something, although that was highly unlikely with Heidi's superior organizational skills, when the door had opened.

I couldn't believe it when she had walked in like an incarnation from one of my best dreams. And then I put two and two together. _Alice._ It figured. She looked beautiful, stunning. Her long hair twirled up on her head exposing the length of her gorgeous neck. She was dressed in a purple dress with a low v-neck highlighting her chest and exposing her long legs, with a cardigan to keep it demure. She looked radiant, classy.

And now she was sat here supposedly interviewing me, but was still staring down at her papers and not looking at me. I didn't know what to say, what to do. She had cut me off so abruptly earlier when I had tried to apologize for my behaviour at the club. _Apologize_, for god's sake_. _ She was definitely angry with me and rightly so. I had fucked up big style. I was glad for my coffee, at least it gave me something to do and the caffeine helped seeing as I couldn't have a stiff drink at this moment in time.

She was still reading her papers, was she nervous? I know she hadn't prepared anything but surely it can't be that hard to ask a few questions, surely? I cleared my throat and she looked up, looking me straight in the eyes, making me feel uncomfortable. She let out a big sigh.

'Right. I've done absolutely no prep for this interview, since I didn't know I was doing it and I know virtually nothing about you and even less about his end-of-the-world blockbuster extravaganza you're apparently starring in. So why don't you start by telling me about this film. What's the storyline? Which character do you play?'

I chuckled and she looked fiercely at me again, so I stopped abruptly. I was right- she had no idea about the film.

'Well, it your typical end-of-the-world-everyone's-in-danger type of movie. There's a mutated virus that spreading like wild fire, infecting everybody and eventually leading to death. The population has been separated into two colonies- the "clean" and "unclean".

I play a slightly mad biologist who first discovered said virus. It's a race against time for the crazy scientist to find a cure.'

'Hmmm...,' Bella murmured biting her lip. She looked deep in thought. I took another sip of my coffee to distract myself from the effect that visual was having on me. 'So, what happens then? Do you get to save the day?'

I smiled at Bella, 'Well, I wouldn't want to spoil the ending for you!'

She looked at me in the eye again and then laughed her musical tinkling laugh.

'Edward- let's face it. I'm not actually going to go and see the damn film, so why don't you tell me how it ends.'

_What? _Well, this is certainly unusual. Usually, people can't suck up enough, always saying what a great film and how I'm their favourite actor. But here is Bella saying she's not evening going to go see the film? She sat there watching me expectantly.

'Ah...well...the scientist –that's me- has to go over to the unclean side in order to research the cure and ends up catching the virus. He finds the cure but is kidnapped by the government who don't actually want to cure the unclean. He manages to escape and then gives the only shot of cure to his girlfriend who is dying before he dies himself, leaving his girlfriend with his journal of his work. So she can cure other people,' I sucked in a deep breath into my lungs.

'Wow,' Bella raised an eyebrow, 'sounds interesting. So what would you do in that situation? I mean if you were faced with the end of the world like that, if you only had 24 hours to live, what would do?'

'Only 24 hours?' I paused and Bella nodded, 'Well, if there was nothing I could do, no way I could help or save anything then I would spend it with my family just doing normal stuff- talking, laughing and eating together for one last time.' I looked at Bella. I decided to push my luck and see if she would engage me, 'What would _you _do?'

'Oh, I thought _I_ was asking you the questions and _you're_ meant to be answering them?' I gave her a cheeky grin knowing she had seen right through me but she let out a big sigh.

'The same, I guess. Try and get to see my parents, my best friends. Spend time with loved ones. But I guess in the film your character does manage to help even though it ultimately means sacrificing himself.' _Hmmm...no. That's not the point to the ending. He find's the love of his life and dies for her. _

'Well, he sacrifices himself not just for everybody in contracting the virus in order to work the cure but in the end he ultimately sacrifices himself for the one he loves.'

Bella grimaced, 'Ah, the usual sacrificing yourself for someone you love scenario.'

_Well, that was unexpected._ A romantic cynic. Every time I think I have her figured out she continues to surprise me. 'Not a romantic? You wouldn't die for the one you love?'

'It's a bit dramatic- it doesn't happen in real life,' she responded dismissively.

'I don't know. I thought you were a Shakespeare fan? Haven't you ever loved someone so much you would do anything for them?'

'No. Have you?' Her tone was abrupt, she was leaning towards me and I instinctively leaned in toward her. I blanched inside whilst trying to stay calm on the exterior, knowing that I was going to have to admit to never having being in love- a type of question I usually avoided.

'Well, no. But I love my family and friends and would do anything for them.' Would she buy it?

'Hmmm...,' she eyed me speculatively, 'So what's next on the agenda?'

_Oh. She's just going to drop it like that?_

'Erm...,' I leaned back and rubbed the back of my neck, 'I start filming the next project in Italy in three weeks, which will take me up to New Years. It's a period romance – an uninspired composer hides in Italy trying to compose and finds his muse in the wife of a local man. He composes his best music of his life but in the end loses the love of his life.'

'Well, that certainly sounds more realistic- I guess they'll be dressing you up in period costume. Are you looking forward starting it?'

'Yeah, I mean, it's always exciting starting a new project and the script for this one is great. I've always wanted to do a period film. And they want me to grow some facial hair, which will be a different look for me. But I'm looking forward to a bit of a break for the next three weeks.'

'A beard?' she laughed her face lighting up. 'I'm sorry I'm just trying to picture you with a beard.' She continued laughing and I smiled at her, just glad that I had finally done something to make her laugh.

'Wait- did you say you only had three weeks between filming?'

'Yeah, I'm lucky this time, I will actually get some quality time to spend with my family.'

'_Lucky?_ Shit- do you not usually get that much time off? How does this being an actor thing actually work, then?'

I smiled, 'What, you mean how I got into it?'

She shook her head, 'No- I mean what do you actually do?'

I paused for a moment. _Damn._ I had been doing this for 5 or 6 years, 4 of which included being a household name and in all the interviews I had done I had never been asked what I actually do. And here Bella was sitting in front of me asking me what I did like it was the most normal thing in the world. _God she was good._ The reality of the situation started to get to me and I collapsed into helpless laughter, which was only egged on by the shocked expression on Bella's face.

She looked down at the floor and her face flushed pink again. 'I'm sorry,' she crossed her arms, 'It was a stupid question. Forget I asked.' She looked at me now, sobering me up.

'No. No. Don't be sorry. I shouldn't have laughed- it's just that nobody ever asked me that question before, it's a really good question.'

I paused. _What do I do?_

'Well...day to day...I could be doing anything from filming on location one day to promotional stuff another day...interviews, photo shoots, magazine interviews.' I gestured between Bella and I and she chuckled. 'Sometimes I've even made TV appearance, and I was once asked to go on an early morning radio breakfast show. Then there are the celebrity appearances...obviously the film premiers and then award ceremonies and the after parties. I get invited to a lot of parties and launches and things, but I don't really like the glitz and the glamour.'

Bella nodded her head, as if agreeing with what I was saying, so I carried on talking.

'The worst part is the promotional interviews for new releases- they haul us up in a hotel and we get asked the same questions repetitively all day by various journalists. But I guess that not many people get to do what they love for a living, so I'm lucky.'

Bella smiled and looked down at her file, scribbling something down furiously as a curtain of hair fell in front of her face, reminding me of that night in the club. My fingers itched to push it back behind her ear and trace my fingers over her flushed cheek bones. She looked up at me again and did just that- pushed her hair back into place behind her ear, 'So how do you choose which films you want to work on? Do you have any help? Oh god. You're not one of those celebs that has a massive entourage are you?' She asked, wide eyed.

I laughed again and Bella flushed once more, before looking down embarrassed. I don't think I would ever tire of her pink blushes.

'Erm...my manager, Marcus, passes me scripts and other projects. Advises me which roles he thinks would be good career wise but ultimately it's my choice. I have an assistant, Heidi, who organises me and arranges my schedule and other stuff. She's a bit OCD at times but jeeps me in line and then there's Felix who is my bodyguard and self-appointed driver.

'I used to drive myself or get a car, but Felix is the worst backseat driver I have ever met so it's just easier to let him drive. At least it gives me a chance to relax and neither of us wants to let Heidi drive!' I stopped talking realizing I had been rambling on, and a little worried at what I had said. I had revealed much more to Bella about my life and feelings than I would usually do in an interview and wondered if it was due to Bella's journalism skills or the fact that I felt so drawn to her.

Bella laughed at my abrupt stop and I felt my cheeks flush. _Oh hell, she's even got me blushing._ She grabbed the Dictaphone and pressed a button, 'Well...thanks, Edward. I think I've got enough now.'

She began gathering up her belongings and throwing them into her bag. I stood up, taking this as my cue to be leaving and took a sip of coffee. _Blurghh! _It had gone cold, so I swallowed it quickly before dropping the remainder into the rubbish bin, just as Bella threw away her untouched coffee. _Strange._

I held the door open for her as she stepped through and followed her as we exited in silence. As she stepped past me I caught a whiff of her scent- fruity, intoxicating and just so... Bella. _Oh god._ It took me back once again to that kiss and in that moment I wanted her so badly. I followed her along the corridor and back to the direction of the lifts trying not to look at her bum and the way she wiggled her hips as she walked. I wondered if now the interview was over she would let me apologize to her- maybe I could take her out to say sorry. Should I just ask?

'Bella?' _Shit. I'm not sure now. _

'Yes?'

She stopped in front of the lifts before pressing the button and turning to look at me, yielding the full force of her deep brown eyes at me.

'W...Would...,' _Shit. _'...Would you show me where Alice's office is?' _Damn it. _'I want to surprise her,' _Cullen, you're such a chicken shit. _

'Sure,' she gave me a confused look and just then the lift pinged and we stepped in. We spent the lift ride in an awkward silence and I tried my hardest not to look at Bella as I chastised myself internally for being a gutless git. She probably hates me and thinks that I'm a weirdo.

When we exited the lift she led me through another maze of corridors, presumably towards Alice's office. I kept my head down to avoid staring at Bella again and hopefully remain conspicuous. When we reached a door that read Alice Cullen, I paused and touched Bella lightly on the arm. She turned round to give me a confused look as I rummaged around on an unoccupied desk outside Alice's office. I found a post-it note and biro and hastily scribbled down my personal email address. I held it out to Bella who had her arms folded and was scowling at me, 'Look, Bella, it would be really good if...'

'_Cullen_,' she spat my name interrupting me, '_please_ tell me you're not trying to give me your number? I've already told you this is strictly professional and I don't want to hear it. Last time we met you didn't want to bother with someone like _me_! So just save it,"

_What? Someone like her? Shit- I said that at the club. But I didn't mean it, surely she know that? _

She walked over to Alice's office and knocked swiftly on the door before flinging it open.

'Alice? Someone here to see you. Let me know if you want to meet up for lunch!' And with that she swivelled on her heels and stalked past me.

'Bella!' I called after her. Suddenly Alice appeared at the doorway.

'Edward!' She trilled happily before staring after Bella's retreating figure. 'What's wrong with Bella?'


	7. Seven

**And so the story continues...This chapter is for ****AlwaysTrueToYou****, thanks for a lovely review. x**

**Disclaimer: I do not own twilight or any of its associated characters. I wish I did. **

**Chapter Seven **

**BPOV**

'_No. Have you?' _

I cringed as my own voice played out, sounding tinny and foreign to my ears as I continued staring down at my hands.

'_Well, no. But I love my family and friends and would do anything for them.'_

His smooth voice sounded perfect next to my whiney tone. The tape cut back to me again.

'_Hmmm...So what's next on the agenda?'_

I heard him respond but his answer made no sense to my ears, as I was lost in the warmth and honey in his voice. My mind started to drift off into daydreams again. _Club. Sonnets. Soft lips. Shouting. _I stopped short of reliving fully that last interaction, admonishing myself for allowing his words from that night to still affect me. _Focus on the present, Bella._

I looked up to see Kate's reaction but she was listening intently to the tape, her eyes focused distantly out of the window. She suddenly whipped her head around to look at me, smiling broadly.

'Okay,' she said, motioning for me to turn off the tape. I clicked it off returning it to my bag, thankful that it hadn't yet got to the embarrassing part where I had asked Edward what he did. I can't believe I asked Edward-_freaking-_Cullen, highly-acclaimed-award-winning-actor, what he did. _Yes, I am that stupid._ But at least he had taken it well. Sort of.

I didn't know what to make of him. His severe mood swings were giving me serious motion sickness. He acts like he likes me one moment but then throws a hissy fit the next. One minute he's all quite and moody, the next he's laughing like a hyena. _And then he has the nerve to give me his phone number? _No way, was I having that.

'So, the interview is good. You didn't tell me how you know Edward Cullen?' Kate asked, straight to the chase. So she hadn't believed my vague answer earlier.

'Just a casual acquaintance. He's one of my best friends' brother.' I shrugged trying to pull off an air of nonchalance.

'Oh, well. It seems to have helped in the interview- kept it casual. You should be able to go for an angle of the person underneath the star in the article. You know, who is the real Edward Cullen. ' _Humph. Like, they really want to know the real moody-as-fuck Edward Cullen?_

_Wait._ 'Isn't Lauren writing the article?'

'No. She messed up, she should have been there. I can't trust her with this. Plus, you seemed to have a good rapport with Edward and that should come through in your writing.' Kate flicked her long hair behind her shoulder, awaiting my response.

'Erm...ok.' _What? I've just started. I didn't think I would be getting any articles like this for ages yet. _

'Great, Carmen wants it to go into the October issue as a last minute addition. I know its short notice, but I need it by the end of tomorrow. The issue goes to print on Friday. About 1,000 words should do it.'

_Ahhhh.._.. W_hat have I just agreed to? _Write an article on Edward- am I ever going to be free of him? Someone up there must be playing a horrible joke on me. But if I object to taking this article not only will Kate be suspicious but I would have to provide an explanation of why not. And what would I say? I kissed him once, but then he rejected me? I just don't like him? If this was any other article I would be over the moon. But it's Edward Cullen. Why, oh why, does this happen to me? _Shit_.

'Great, it'll be good to get my teeth into something bigger for a change.' I tried to sound as enthusiastic as possible, smiling as I stood to leave.

'Thanks, Bella. Don't let me down.' Kate flashed me one final smile in dismissal and returned to her computer.

'Bye, Kate' I replied, as I walked out of her office and made my way to my desk.

I slumped down into my office chair, slinging my bag underneath it and rested my head on top of my arms on the desk. _God,_ why did these things happen to me? I wanted nothing to do with Edward Cullen and now I had to write an article about him. I had thought that this job would be a step up from _Vertigo_, I thought I would enjoy working on bigger articles in a more prestigious magazine. But I had enjoyed working at Vertigo, writing pieces on current events in and around London. Until I had been forced out by Jacob Black. I hated the celebrity culture with everyone clawing for their 15 minutes of fame and talentless celebrities selling their souls for a 6 figure sum. And that was what _Moda_ was selling.

After a few moments I found the motivation to get started working on the article. I glanced at my watch- it was still mid-morning and I had 31 hours to get the copy to Kate. First things first, I made myself a cup of tea. Then I checked my inbox again, and tided my already clean desk. Finding no other tasks to prolong my procrastination I recovered the Dictaphone from my handbag along with some earphones, and opening up a new word processing document began by transcribing the conversation between Edward and myself.

Transcribing the interview was very painful. I had problems keeping myself focused as my mind kept wandering off at the sound of Edward's voice. After a while I heard someone clearing their throat and looked up to see Lauren Mallory standing by my desk with a scowl on her face. _Great._ I pulled the buds of my earphones from my ears and swivelled around on my chair. 'Lauren,' I said by way of greeting.

'You're doing the Edward Cullen article,' she stated rather than questioned, the scowl never leaving her face.

'Yes,' I confirmed unwilling to give her too much information about it. Alice had told me that Lauren had been working at _Moda_ for some years now but had failed to get promoted to an assistant editor 3 years running. By all accounts she was a grasping sub-par journalist who had a talent for trampling on people in her attempt to get to top.

'That was _my_ interview. _I_ was meant to interview Edward Cullen. _I_ was meant to do the article,' she replied, her tone scathing. She puffed herself up to her full height, trying to intimidate me.

'Kate's asked me to write it up,' I clarified, turning back to my desk, ignoring her attempts at a confrontation.

'I know what you're trying to do. Using your friends to get the best jobs. And it won't work.' She glared at me. _What?_

'I'm not sure what you mean, Lauren. I ...'

'You know exactly what I mean, _Isabella,_'She interrupted me.

_How dare she? _As if I would use my contacts with Alice to get an interview with Edward. I stood up from my desk, thoroughly provoked now and ready to put her in her place. At the moment I was just about to speak my phone suddenly rang. I reached over to my desk and picked it up.

'Bella Swan speaking.' I spoke into the handset curtly, turning my back on Lauren and effectively ending the conversation.

'Bella! Are you ok?' _Alice. God, that girl has good timing._

I brightened the tone of my voice, 'Hi! Yes, I'm fine. Sorry. How are you?'

'Good. Thanks for bringing Edward by. He told me you interviewed him? What a coincidence, huh!'

'Erm...yeah' I wanted to answer Alice's question but I was aware of Lauren still standing by my desk, obviously hoping to eavesdrop on the conversation.

'Oh! Can you not talk? Do you want to go for lunch now?'

'Erm...no. I can't do lunch today, sorry. I've got a lot of work on. Rain check?' I heard a huff and a click of high heels that told me Lauren had finally taken the hint and walked away.

'Ok. I need to talk to you, though. We have to have lunch tomorrow and you can tell me all about your interview. Promise?'

'Yeah, I promise.'

'Ok. Speak to you soon. Bye' she chirped down the phone.

'Bye, Ali'

I plugged myself back into the Dictaphone and continued on with my work, aware that I still had a lot to do if I was going to make this deadline. I was in for a long night.

I waited in the lobby, impatiently tapping my pump covered foot against the polished floor of the hallway. My grumbling stomach added to the soundtrack, reminding me that I had skipped breakfast this morning in order to continue working on that damn article about Edward Cullen. I had made good progress and was pretty much finished with it. I had gone for the 'real Edward Cullen' approach suggested by Kate, hamming up the information he provided about his love life, family and what a career as an actor was really like. I just hope that Kate liked it.

The lift pinged open, releasing a stream of people into the lobby. Alice emerged from the lift, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm late,' she sung, flinging her arms around me in a quick embrace. 'I just had some sample shoes delivered from Jimmy Choo and I _had _to open them.'

'Humph,' I muttered returning her hug, 'Let's just get something to eat.'

'Ohh...so it's grumpy Bella today,' Alice replied linking her arm through mine as we walked out of the lobby and into the autumn sunshine.

'Shut up,' I retorted, 'I'm hungry and I've been waiting for you for ages.'

We made our way to our usual little cafe, ordered food and drinks and sat at a small table near the window. Alice and I chatted about random things until our food arrived. I greedily ate my salad, spearing pieces of lettuce almost angrily. It was at this moment that Alice decided to question me about my interview with Edward.

'So, what happened? Why didn't you mention to me you were interviewing Edward?' she looked at me suspiciously.

'Urghh,' I groaned, 'I didn't know I was going to be interviewing your brother, it just kind of happened.' I then related to Alice the entire story of running into Kate, Lauren being missing and how I ended up interviewing her brother. I told her about the almost-confrontation with Lauren yesterday which made her laugh and exclaim in horror.

'But the interview went well?' she asked. I took another bite of my salad and chewed slowly, giving myself time to collect my thoughts and think about what I was going to say. Alice noticed my stalling and jumped on the opportunity, sniffing out my discomfort at the question.

'What happened?' She bounced up and down in her seat impatiently, 'Tell me!'

'Nothing _happened_. It was fine. We just had a chat and I asked a few questions. ' I could hardly tell her that it was probably _the_ most awkward thing I have ever done in my life and that her brother was probably the most annoying person I have ever met.

'Hmmm...Well, Edward said he forgot to give you this.' She handed me a slip of paper, 'He wants you to email him a copy of the article when you've finished. Muttered something about a misunderstanding?' She eyed me suspiciously.

'Oh...right,' I mumbled, looking down at the paper which contained an email address, written in probably the scruffiest writing I have ever seen. _Shit._ A horrible sinking feeling shot though my body, my stomach filled with those nervous butterflies and my heart suddenly felt heavy. An email address. More precisely, Edward's email address. My skin flushed at my realization. And I had thought... _Oh no._ And I had said..._Shit. Oh my god. _

'Bella, your phones ringing,' I looked up to see Alice, pointing at my handbag. I scrambled to locate my phone, and answered it quickly, after briefly glancing at the caller ID which told me that it was Rosalie calling.

'And so the phantom flatmate and supposed best friend surfaces,' I looked up to see Alice smiling and mouthed "Rose".

'Care to tell me why you didn't come home the last two nights?'

'Bel-la,' she responded, 'I'm sorry,'

'So, you should be!' I fake huffed, indigently, 'Where were you?' I asked, already knowing the answer but wanting her to admit it.

'Erm...I stayed over at Emmett's'

'At Emmett's, huh?' I said, for Alice's benefit who squealed.

'You're with Alice aren't you?'

Alice and I both laughed, 'Yup'

'Anyway, I'll be back tonight. I want you to meet Emmett,'

'I've already met Emmett,' I shot back with a laugh.

'Alright, smart-alec. Well, I thought we could have dinner.'

'You mean you thought _I_ could cook dinner?' Alice perked up at the mention of dinner, and then pouted at me.

'Bell-la,' Rosalie pleaded, 'You know I can't cook as well as you and I thought you could get to know Emmett a bit better. Pretty please?'

'Ok,' I agreed not unwillingly, 'It just so happens that I am celebrating.' I noticed that Alice was still pouting at me and giving me puppy dog eyes. 'Hang on. Can Alice come?' I asked. 'And Jasper?' Alice added quickly.

'And Jasper, of course,' I repeated, rolling my eyes at Alice.

'Sure. What are you celebrating?'

'I'll tell you _all_ about it tonight. What were you thinking food-wise?'

'Well...Emmett will eat anything, but I was thinking the famous Bella Swan chilli?'

'With extra's?'

'Definitely with the extra's!' Rose laughed.

'Ok, I'll sort the food but you're in charge of alcohol. I want tequila sunrises, margaritas and sol.'

'That I can do. I'll see you later.'

'Bye Rose' I laughed again, and hung up the phone. Alice was still bouncing up and down in her seat, 'What did she say? What did she say?'

'Yes, dinners on!' I said returning salad.

'Yay!' Alice squealed once again, clapping her hands.


	8. Eight

**And so the story continues...This chapter is for ****AlwaysTrueToYou****, thanks for a lovely review. x**

**Disclaimer: I do not own twilight or any of its associated characters. I wish I did. **

**Chapter Eight**

**EPOV**

I heard a key in the door from the armchair I sat in perusing one of the many books from the shelves. A large bang was followed by a jangle of keys, footsteps and a voice called out, 'Rose Petal, I'm ho-me' in a sing-song tone. I stayed seated as Bella entered the open plan living and kitchen area. She turned left and headed towards the breakfast bar, placing her shopping bags on the island. She hadn't yet noticed my position in the corner of the room, as she began unpacking the contents of the bag and depositing them into various cupboards. Even though I had only seen her yesterday I was still stunned by her beauty, she moved so gracefully around the kitchen. I decided to make my presence known and called out, 'Hello'.

Bella let out a small squeal, spinning round and stood frozen for a fraction of a moment, until she recognized me. I heard her mutter an 'Oh my God,' under her breath followed by some other unintelligible words, before making her way over to where I was still seated.

'Don't touch my books!' she snapped, snatching the open book from my hands and leaning over me to replace the book on the bookshelf.

'What the hell are you doing in my flat?' _Ah, well that's how it's going to be, huh!_

'And hello to you too!' I laughed without humor, avoiding her question.

'_Well?_' she stood there hands on hips, her face sullen and her expression accusing with anger flashing in her brown eyes.

'Rose and Em just went to the shops to get drinks. Rose said I had to stay and wait here.'

'Hmmmph,' was all a I got in reply and she returned back over to the kitchen, pulling out various items from the fridge and began preparing what I assumed was dinner. We stayed like that for several moments, each minute of silence becoming more awkward as Bella flitted around the kitchen whilst I watched. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, this was unbearable. I looked around the room hoping to find something that we could possibly talk about...anything. I stood, returning once again to the bookshelf, and began reading the authors and titles, avoiding touching them as Bella had requested.

'Austen... more Austen...Gaskell...Orwell...you read lots of Classics...Shakespeare,' I chuckled, 'A lot of Shakespeare...and poetry...chick lit...I'm assuming that's Rosalie's?'

I looked back at her then, and she stopped working to look fiercely at me again, 'And your point is, Cullen?'

Our eyes connected across the empty room, and I looked into those deep eyes again full of chocolate anger and...hurt. I snapped out of it, looking away. She had an obvious dislike of me, it would do me no good to reveal how much I was attracted to her at this point.

'Well, _Swan_, for someone so cynical about love, you have a lot of romantic fiction,'

'And you would know so much about that would you? You don't know me and it's none of your business. Have you just come here to comment on my choice of literature?' She replied defensively.

'I was invited by Rosalie,' I stated defensively, 'Don't worry I didn't come here to stalk you, or give you my number again,' I laughed, bitterly_._

'Yeah, well Alice explained.' She spoke quietly. _Shit, that was probably the wrong thing to say._

'Well, you didn't think I was actually asking you out, did you?' _Hang on, that came out wrong. Crap- this isn't going well. _

'Why, Cullen? Too good to go out with the likes of me?' She spat venomously, her voice raised, 'Didn't seem to bother you that night at the club?'

_Huh? Hang on, she made the first move!_ 'You kissed me, remember?' My voice was louder than I had intended.

'I was drunk. You're the one that had a hissy fit! Care to explain?' I paused not knowing what to say. How could I explain it all to her? Now?

'Don't worry, I think I've you've made it perfectly clear what you think of me,' the door bell rung and she added on, 'Can you get that? It's probably Alice,' before returning back her cooking and ignoring me once again.

She knew that's not what I had meant, but she was determined to hate me. I strode furiously to the door, pausing a moment to get my emotions in check, before throwing it open, revealing a bouncing Alice and an amused looking Jasper grasping a bottle of wine.

Alice immediately flung herself into my arms, 'Edward! I didn't know you were going to be here! Although it makes sense seeing as Emmett and me and Jazz are all here,' she rattled off, whilst Jasper looked on with a grin on his face. My being away for long periods of time had the effect of making Alice and my Mum a hell of a lot more clingy when I was around.

'Whoa! Calm down little one,' I extracted myself from her hug but grinned all the same at her enthusiasm, 'Rosalie invited me by way of Emmett.'

'Hey, man,' Jasper spoke up, 'This is beautiful guys, but do you think we could take this inside?' Alice took off into the kitchen and we heard a squeal of 'Bella' followed by their chatter. Jasper stepped into the room closing the door behind him as I muttered a quick 'Hey,' in return and we followed Alice into the flat.

Bella had returned to her cooking and had several things bubbling away on the stove, the smell filling up the room. Alice jumped down from her seat at the breakfast bar, and began introducing Jasper and Bella, 'Bella, this is my fiancée Jasper Whitlock. Jazz, this is Bella,'

'Ah, the infamous Bella Swan at last. It's good to finally meet you, I've heard so much about you,' Jasper held out his hand, laying on the charm thickly.

'It's good to meet you as well, I've heard a lot about you too,' Bella smiled up at Jasper as she shook his hand.

'I'm sure you have. Oh, where would you like this?' He said holding up the bottle of wine.

'Bella, I know you said don't bring anything but I got some wine...although I couldn't decide if Red or White was best to go with Mexican, so I just got white in the end.' Alice put in.

'Erm...anywhere will do. Sorry, I'm being a terrible hostess. I haven't offered you drinks yet. We can open the wine now if you like or Rose should be back with some more alcohol soon. She should be getting some beer and stuff for cocktails.'

'Mexican?' Jasper piped up, grinning ear to ear.

'Yes, is Mexican ok?' Bella's eyes widened and she looked slightly worried.

'Brilliant, thanks. My favourite,' Jasper reassured Bella, 'And I'll wait for a beer, if that's ok.'

Alice agreed with Jasper that they would wait for drinks and set about laying the table under Bella's direction, as Jasper and I sat at the breakfast bar. It hadn't escaped my notice that Bella had not offered me a drink and hadn't acknowledged me in front of Alice and Jasper. Things were very sketchy between Bella and I already. A few misunderstandings and now she hates me?

After a while, a key could be heard in the lock of the front door. Emmett's booming laugh could be heard in the hallway and we were soon joined by Rosalie and Emmett in the living room.

'Honey Bee!' Rosalie exclaimed laughing.

'Rose Petal,' Bella replied warmly, 'the wanderer returns...'

'Shut, up!' Rosalie defended, flinging her arms briefly around Bella, 'I'm back now...anyway, you remember Emmett?'

Bella rolled her eyes, 'We have met, Rosalie. I wasn't that drunk,' Bella replied, turning to Emmett, 'Nice to see you again, Emmett.'

Emmett laughed and grinned back at her, 'Hey Bella! Right, who wants a drink?' he boomed.

I grabbed the bottle of beer that Emmett held out to me in a silent offering and followed his lead, sat on the corner sofa on the other side of the room. He turned the TV on to Sky Sports News, taking off his jacket and tie and relaxing into the sofa. He was obviously comfortable in our surroundings. Jasper sat on the sofa next to me, his attention divided between watching Alice and focusing on the football updates.

The girls converged in the kitchen, Alice chattering happily away seated at the breakfast bar, whilst Rosalie mixed together cocktails. Bella was still at the stove cooking, I couldn't help but sneak glances at her whilst she moved around the kitchen back and forth between the fridge, sink and stove as she cooked. She moved with unconscious grace, whilst simultaneously continuing the conversation with the girls. Rosalie handed her a drink, a fruity looking cocktail, and she drank greedily, polishing off two thirds of the drink in one go.

Jasper caught me looking in Bella's direction, 'You'd think they'd have run out of things to talk about after working together so much!'

'Yeah,' I laughed casually and focused my attention back on the TV and my beer. Emmett made some comment on the potential transfer of one of his teams players to a rival team and the three of us got into a heated conversation on football. I tried not to look over at Bella any more, but slipped a couple of times.

After a while Alice danced over to us with a bowl of nachos and planted herself on Jaspers lap.

'Hell yeah! Nachos,' Emmett enthused tucking in from the bowl Rosalie had perched on her lap and whilst I grabbed a few from the bowl Alice and Jasper were sharing.

Bella disappeared out of the room and came back a few moments later dressed in a pale blue sundress with a white print and a cardigan. Her legs and feet were bare and I noticed her toenails were painted red as she passed me to go and sit next to Rosalie. She looked so comfortable, her natural beauty shining through.

'So, Jasper, Alice tells me you're an architect?'

'Yup,' Jasper replied and Alice beamed, 'I work for Holt and partners mostly doing public buildings.'

'Oh,' Bella said, 'What are you working on at the moment?'

Jasper needed no further encouragement and launched into an explanation of the latest million-pound building his firm was designing prompted by questions from both Bella and Rosalie. The topic changed when Jasper asked Bella in return how she was enjoying working at _Moda_ and eventually moved onto Emmett's work in his family's business. I stayed silent through the conversation, sticking to eating nachos and I drained the last of my beer. I hated these conversations. They were the only time I wished I did something else, a normal job and not an actor, where everyone knows what you've been up to and only ever ask you stupid questions like whether you've met Tom Cruise. Well, maybe except Bella, but she was hardly talking to me at the moment.

Finally, Bella announced that dinner was ready and we all made our way to the dining table. Emmett passed me another beer and I sat down next to Jasper, thankful that Bella was seated on the other side of the tale from me. The room fell silent as we plated up our food and devoured the Mexican feast of chilli and rice, with homemade guacamole, salsa, sour cream and cheese. _Fuck, this Chilli was good. _

'Mmmmm...this is really good Bella,' Jasper hummed, as the rest of the table spoke their agreement, whilst I just nodded my head. Bella beamed and flushed red at the praise. So Bella was a good cook? And she seemed to enjoy it, too.

'You've been very quiet, Eddie,' Emmett looked at me, cocking his eyebrow. _Perceptive bugger. _

'Sorry, I'm a bit tired tonight,' I grimaced, 'And I've told you not to call me Eddie,' I gave him a pointed look.

'How did the premier go? Did Mum like the film?' Alice asked about the premier of a film I had taken Mum to see last night. It was some chick flick but it was apparently adapted from one of her favourite books, so I asked her to accompany me.

'You mean you've not spoken to Mum to get all the juicy gossip?' I raised my eyebrows whilst Jasper and Emmett chuckled.

'Well, yeah, of course. She told me she spoke to Hugh Grant. How cool is that?' Rosalie nodded in agreement.

I rolled my eyes and ate another forkful of food, 'It was fine. Mum liked the film but kept complaining that they changed bits of the book.'

Alice nodded and then started bouncing up and down on her seat, 'Ooh, that reminds me...are you coming to the Gala next week, Rose?'

'Gala?' she questioned in response.

'It's a charity gala my mum and Aunt Susan organises every year...did Emmett not tell you?' Alice replied.

'No,' Rose turned to look at Emmett crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at him, 'he didn't.'

Emmett immediately jumped to the defensive, 'Rosie, baby, I was gonna invite you it just slipped my mind. I just assumed you were going to be coming with me.'

'And how would I have known that if you didn't tell me about it?' she shot back. The rest of the group leaned back in their chairs, either consciously or unconsciously as we waited to see if this was going to escalate.

'Ahh...Rosie. Look, baby,' Emmett half stood up from his chair, fishing his wallet out of his pocket and producing two tickets which he handed to Rosalie, 'I have the tickets and everything. Please say you'll go with me?'

'Well...I don't know. What is it, anyway?' Rosalie examined the tickets.

'It's just a dinner and dance thing,' Alice piped up, 'You know, posh dinner, dancing, and then a silent-auction thingy. The cost of the tickets are part of the charity fundraising but you get to get all dressed up and stuff. Bella can come too and we can all make a night of it.' She smiled widely at the rest of us.

'Alice, I don't know...' Bella sighed.

'Please...?' Alice whined unleashing the full force of her pout, 'It will be so much fun, Rose?' She looked at Rosalie, who was busy still looking at Emmett.

'I can't,' Rosalie handed the tickets back to Emmett who looked downcast and then started to speak before being interrupted by Rosalie.

'It's next Friday, I'm busy that night.' She gave a pointed glance at Bella before grinning mischievously.

'No, Rose, don't,' Bella suddenly cried looking at Rosalie alarmed, 'Please don't do this to me!'

Jasper looked at Alice, obviously confused at this display, who just shrugged her shoulders in response.

Rosalie let out a laugh and smirked at Alice before announcing, 'It's Bella's birthday next Friday!'

Emmett hollered, whilst Alice squealed and looked to Bella who had just laid her head on her arms on the table. _She doesn't like her birthday?_

'Bel-la! Why didn't you say anything?' Alice was bouncing in her seat at this point.

'Bella hates her birthday. Doesn't like to be the centre of attention,' Rosalie said smugly.

'Are you doing anything that day?' Alice looked to Rosalie who shook her head, resulting in Alice squealing again, 'Then it's settled! We can all go to the gala together and celebrate Bella's birthday!'

Alice and Rosalie both looked pleased with themselves at their scheming and hastily started making plans, whilst Bella looked on grimacing. Emmett just grinned at Jasper and I, obviously happy that he had managed to avoid Rosalie's wrath.

After clearing away dinner, we moved over to the sofa's where Rosalie produced a pack of cards. As the evening wore on and more drinks were consumed, the game playing was in full swing and everyone became much more relaxed. Jasper had mostly been beating everyone at poker, whilst Alice was decidedly drunk. At some point in the night, Rosalie had taken charge of the stereo and Emmett had began mixing cocktails, the combinations of getting increasingly bizarre and the girls were taking turns in drinking the concoctions.

Bella barely ever looked in my direction, and never spoke one word to me, which went unnoticed by the rest of the group. I had made a concerted effort not to look at her too much but couldn't help watching her when nobody noticed. She focused intently on the card game, smiling slightly to herself when it was going her way and biting her lip and furrowing her brow when she was confused or maybe just thinking. She laughed with joy the one time she beat Alice in a hand, her laughter reaching her twinkling eyes. I spent the night fighting my natural instinct to reach out and touch her, hold her hand, anything to have contact with her.

I realized that in between watching Bella I was being quieter than usual and had mostly focused on drinking the cocktails Emmett gave me and playing cards. I had drunk more than I had intended and the alcohol had left me in a reflective mood. I was still feeling upset at my earlier conversation with Bella. _Why did it even bother me that she didn't like me?_ If it bothered Bella, she didn't show it.

The evening came to an end when Emmett threw his cards at a smug Jasper after losing yet another round of poker. Jasper had stood up at that point and declared it was time to go home to which Alice giggled and pouted at him. I stood up from my position seated on the floor by the coffee table, but abruptly lost my balance and fell onto the sofa, to the laughter of everyone else. Maybe I had drunk more than I had originally thought- what had Emmett put in those cocktails?

The room swam out of focus and I could feel sleep starting to overtake me. I made out the sound of the door opening and closing and voices. I opened my eyes to see a vision of Bella wishing Emmett and Rosalie goodnight with one final glance in my direction. I was unable to prevent my eyes from closing again and heard Emmett's booming voice telling Rosalie to just leave me there before I finally floated off into the darkness.

**Reviews make me very happy. Bill x**


	9. Nine

**Disclaimer:**** I am in the unfortunate position that I do not own any of the characters relating to the twilight series, they belong to Stephanie Meyer. **

**Chapter Nine**

**BPOV**

I stood in the narrow changing room in just my underwear and socks, my clothes discarded in a pile on the floor. I looked at the dress hanging on the hook in front of me, trying to decide on the best way to attempt to put it on. I ignored the voices of my best friends outside as I slid the dress off the hanger and unzipped it. That is, until I heard a high pitched scream.

'Bella! You interviewed _Edward Cullen?_' Angela's voice carried over the wall of the changing room, 'When were you going to tell me?'

Grrrrr. Edward-_freaking_-Cullen. Does it ever end? That man is everywhere. Not only do I have to interview him and write a whole article on him, he's on magazine covers in the supermarket, he's in my flat when I get home from work and when I wake up in the morning. God, he was even on a film ad on the side of a bus this morning. _There's just no escaping him._

Rosalie let out a deep laugh, 'Thanks Rosalie,' I responded tersely. I stepped into the dress and pulled it up halfway, still trying to figure out how the sash worked.

'Bella!' Angela called, exasperation evident in her tone, obviously intrigued by Rosalie's prodding. Rosalie loved winding people up and knew exactly how to push my buttons.

'Ang, just give me a minute. I need to concentrate on getting this dress on,' I called back realizing that I needed to untie the sash before I could zip the dress up around me. I took a look in the mirror at the bridesmaid's dress Angela had picked out for me. Strapless, it was floor length in lilac satin. A deeper purple sash fixed just below the rushed bust. It was a pretty dress, lilac was not exactly my colour but it looked good enough, although slightly spoiled by the sight of my black and pink polka dot socks. I slipped the socks off my feet and made my way out of the changing room into the room beyond.

'So?' Angela prompted as I stood next to Rosalie in front of the large mirror on one side of the wall of the shop. Rosalie was wearing an identical dress but on her it looked like something out of a fashion magazine, whereas on me it looked slightly ill-fitting. Talk about way to take a confidence hit.

'I like the style. I need a better bra though, and it needs taking up a bit,' I held up the hem of the dress, which was currently hanging on the floor.

'Tell me!' Angela demanded stepping behind me, retying the sash behind me. I once again ignored her pleas and glares through the mirror.

Rosalie was nonchalantly primping herself in the mirror, 'Yeah, Bella, tell us.'

'What she's not told you anything either? Angela asked whilst Rosalie smirked at me, 'Nope not a word.'

'That's because there's nothing to tell!' I snapped at the two of them, glaring at them in the mirror, 'The girl that was meant to be interviewing him didn't turn up and I was called in at the last minute. I asked him a few questions. Perfectly professional.'

'So you didn't flirt with him?' Angela questioned.

'_Ang!_' I scolded her, locking eyes with a grinning Rose in the mirror. _She's getting married!_

'What?' Angela questioned innocently, 'I wouldn't kick him out of bed. The guy is a hottie!' I shook my head at her.

'The guy is an arsehole,' I fired back. _Yes, a beautiful arsehole, but an arsehole none the less._ 'He's totally bipolar. Are you forgetting that he had a complete hissy fit at me in a crowded club for no reason?

'He barely spoke at dinner and spent the whole night in a mood. He's a self-obsessed celebrity that doesn't give us common folk the time of day.'

_And he said he would never go out with me, like I wasn't good enough for him._

'Don't you think you're being a tad cynical Bella? You hardly know him.'

'I know all I need to know about Edward Cullen,' I distractedly pulled at the bust of my dress.

'Well, Emmett says he's been through a lot recently. Had a tough few years,' Rosalie put in.

'Been through a lot? Like what?' Angela wondered out loud.

'Anyway, Ang, you're missing the point,' I interrupted sensing an opportunity to steer the conversation away from me, 'Rosalie and Emmett, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G,' I sung at Rosalie, who glared at me, resulting in Angela and I to fall about laughing.

Rosalie grimaced, 'Mature, Bee,' but flushed pink.

'Rose petal, are you blushing? I questioned, to which Rose flushed an event deeper shade of pink, 'You are!'

'You really like him, don't you?' Angela asked Rosalie quietly.

'Yeah, I do,' Rose replied shyly, 'I think...I think I love him,'

'Love,?' I looked at Rosalie. _In love? _In the time I had known Rosalie, she had never, ever, told me she was in love with someone. Naturally a suspicious person, she had trouble in trusting people after her mum left when she was five.

'I mean... he's just...,' she tried to qualify, 'he's just so perfect, he's gorgeous and thoughtful and funny. We have so much in common and he's, like, amazing in bed. I mean _amazing_.

But, it's too soon, right? It can't be love when I've only known him for a few weeks.' She looked up from the floor into the mirror at Angela and I who had fallen silent. _I am way out of my depth here, with all this talk of love._

'I knew I loved Ben on our second date when he took me to see 'The sound of music' after I said it was my favourite musical at our previous date,' Angela mused with a far away look on her face. The sales assistant returned from helping some other customers interrupting the pensive mood.

'So is it a winner?' I said indicating the dress I was wearing.

Angela instantly beamed at me and looked to Rosalie who nodded her head.

'Yay,' she clapped her hands, 'Now we just need shoes to match!'

_Beep, BEEP. _I heard a car horn sound and rushed over to the window overlooking the road to see the red jeep parked in a spot across the road. 'He's here!' I yelled.

I grabbed my jumper, handbag and the bag sitting next to it and made my way to the front door. I stopped in front of the bedroom door and banged on it, 'Seriously, Rose, what are you doing in there?' I called through the closed door.

After a few moments of sighing, double checking I had everything and locating my keys in my handbag, Rosalie eventually emerged from her room looking impeccable. She was dressed in blue jeans with platform wedged sandals, and a long lined sequined vest.

'Finally!' I sighed, 'Emmett's downstairs waiting.'

Rosalie pointed to her ear indicating that she was on the phone, obviously the reason for the delay.

'No, no. That's all...You know what Emmett usually gets?...Okay, great...No. We're leaving now. Em's outside...Okay. See you in a bit. Bye, Ali.'

'Bee,' she said hanging up the phone, 'Couldn't you have made an effort?' She eyed my faded skinny jeans, gladiator sandals and white ruffled shirt with a small frown of disgust.

'We're going to Alice's for a movie night, not a nightclub,' I rolled my eyes at her, 'Come on!' I said stomping out of the flat. Rosalie followed, slamming the front door shut behind her, which I then locked and we made our way down the stairs.

'What were you talking to Alice about?'

'Ah, Alice is ordering the pizza. I got you your usual.'

'Thanks.'

We exited our building's lobby out onto the street and crossed the road to the where Emmett was waiting in the car. He immediately hopped out and raced around to the side of the car enveloping Rosalie in a huge hug and kiss, opening the door for her before getting in the car.

'Hey Bella,' Emmett called out to where I was climbing in the backseat.

'Hey Em. Sorry we kept you waiting. Rose spent ages primping herself for you,' I smiled evilly to where Rose was seated in the front.

'Bella' she yelled at me and flushed, embarrassed at being caught out, 'A women is never supposed to reveal her secrets.' I snorted out loud.

'No. It's ok, babe. You look gorgeous, as always. You're well worth the wait.' Emmett soothed her.

Rosalie beamed at him, 'Thanks, sweetie.' _Such a smooth talker, McCarty. _

I sat in silence, half listening to Rosalie and Emmett's conversation but mostly consumed with my own thoughts. I was thinking of the last time we had all met up and I had cooked Mexican. Alice was fast becoming one of my best friends and not just because we both worked at the same magazine. Just like Rosalie, she was the ying to my yang- enthusiastic where I was reluctant, optimistic where I was cynical- and seemed to bring out the best in me.

Jasper seemed like a good guy, although I hadn't spent much time talking to him. And Emmett..., well, Emmett seemed to have unwittingly won Rosalie's heart. But the question was could he be trusted with it? He was nice, maybe a bit too nice and he was certainly friendly. But I wasn't sure whether he was on the same page as Rose. I just hoped he wouldn't do anything to hurt her seeing as she had so much invested in this relationship.

Which just leaves Edward. In retrospect, it was naive of me not to realize he would be invited to dinner. He was Alice's brother and Emmett's cousin after all. But to see him sitting there in _my_ flat reading _my_ books. _Infuriating._ I'm not sure where he gets off making assumptions about me like that, and then to laugh at me for turning down what I thought was him asking me out. Because apparently Edward Cullen would never go out with me.

So I'm guessing he's going to be at Alice's movie night tonight. I've never met anyone that I dislike as much as him. Or as attractive as him. Because Angela was right, he was all sorts of gorgeous and I can't help but be attracted to him. Half the time I want to hit him for being such an asshole and the other half I want to just kiss him senseless again. But I won't. Because he's an asshole. Definitely an asshole.

'Bella, are you listening?'

'Huh? Sorry, Rose. What were you saying?' I looked to the front seat to where Rosalie had turned round slightly in her seat to look at me.

'Emmett was just asking what dvd you brought?' Alice had told us to all bring our favourite dvd's and she would order the pizza.

'Oh!' I rustled in the bag I had brought with me and held up the dvd, 'Lord of the rings, the last one,' I looked at the other dvd in the bag, 'Ocean's Eleven again, Rose?'

'It's got all my boys- George, Brad and Matt- what isn't to like?' Emmett chuckled but I just rolled my eyes at her.

'Anyways, I thought you would have brought Pride and Prejudice?'

'Nah! I figured the guys probably wouldn't want to watch a Darcy love-fest,' I reasoned, 'What about you Emmett?'

'Gone in 60 seconds- it's a classic.' I nodded in agreement as the car fell silent. Emmett flipped the sound system on and after a moment I recognized the band playing.

'Are you an Oasis fan, Emmett?

'Hell, yeah! They're shit hot. Edward and I went to see them in concert at Wembley.' He smiled at me through the rear-view mirror.

'Yeah?' I couldn't help but grin back at him.

'Yeah. Edward's a bit of music snob on the quiet though, don't get him talking about it 'cos you'll never get him to shut up. Like Jasper and architecture!'

Emmett and I spent the rest of the ride to Alice and Jaspers singing along and discussing our favourite Oasis' songs much to Rosalie's annoyance. Once we had arrived and parked Emmett led us to a pretty white Georgian terrace house and knocked on the front door. Jasper answered the door and greeted us, looking casual in bare feet, jeans and a t-shirt and we were led into the living room. Alice and Jasper's house resembled something from a home magazine, all clean lines and artistically arranged furniture. Everything was beautiful.

As we entered the living room my traitorous heart leapt as I spotted Edward sitting on the sofa, tv remote in hand. He looked up as we entered the room, his face an expressionless mask but he was still beautiful. He was dressed even more casually than Jasper in a pair of faded loose fit jeans, t-shirt and flip flops. _God he's so rude._ He didn't even bother to get up from the sofa to say hello. Alice suddenly bounded down the stairs a huge grin on her face and set about greeting everyone in the room with hugs, finally coming to rest next to Jasper.

'Oh, I brought drinks,' I said after a pause, handing Alice the bag containing the dvd's and a couple of bottles of wine.

Jasper peered into the bag, 'Planning on getting wasted Bella?'

'Yeah, well. Em's driving me home.'

'Are you sure you want to go back with those two?' Jasper pointed at the sofa next to Edward where Em and Rose were sitting next to Edward. Rose was situated on Emmett's lap and the couple were involved in a very touchy feely kiss.

'You're right,' I replied following Alice and Jasper into the kitchen, 'I'll bunk in with Ali and you can take the sofa. If Edward's not commandeering it.'

Jasper handed me a glass of wine that Alice had poured and stated seriously, 'Ali kicks.'

'Shit. Well, she can take the sofa and I'll share with you. As long as you don't snore?'

Jasper shook his head indicating the negative and laughed, 'Sorted!' I said and Jasper and myself cracked up as Alice looked on.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, followed by a yell of 'PIZZA!' as Emmett ran past the kitchen to the front door. I caught a glimpse of Edward taking his wallet out of his back pocket as he sloped past the kitchen to help Emmett with the pizza's. _Asshole_. As if we didn't need a reminder what a superstar he was, he has to flaunt his wealth by paying for all our pizza.

Eventually, we were all seated around the living room sofas with plates and drinks. Rosalie passed me the pizza she had ordered for me – mushroom with extra olives- and I tucked in, hungrily.

'So, what are we watching?' Jasper piped up.

'Yeah, what dvd's did you guys bring? Alice joined in.

'Rosie's got Ocean's Eleven, and I brought Gone in 60 seconds,' Emmett said after swallowing a huge bite of pizza.

'No. No way,' Jasper looked at Emmett, 'I'm not watching it again, Emmett'

'Ahhh. No!' Emmett moaned but grinned all the same, 'Bella brought Lord of the Rings,' he added, looking at Edward with one eyebrow raised.

'What!' I asked confused as the whole room turned to look at me.

'Lord of the rings is Edward's favourite,' Alice supplied, and I just shrugged avoiding looking in Edward's direction although I knew from the prickling feeling on my skin that he was watching me.

'Edward?' Alice asked and he looked up at her before passing his dvd choice over to his sister, 'What's this?'

'Survivors,' he said, 'Heidi had an advanced copy. '

I snorted_ . He really is self absorbed. _'You choose one of your _own _films as your favourite?' Looking for once directly at Edward.

'No,' he said, his green eyes flashed with emotion and bore into mine, 'I brought it for Alice. She likes to watch my films.' He shrugged.

After a lengthy conversation we all settled in to watch ocean's eleven, Emmett and Rosalie situated on the sofa next to Edward and Alice and Jasper on another. I curled up in an armchair with my second glass of wine.


	10. Ten

**Disclaimer:**** I am in the unfortunate position that I do not own any of the characters relating to the twilight series, they belong to Stephanie Meyer. **

**Chapter Ten**

**EPOV**

I kept my eyes trained on the screen in front. The film that Rosalie had brought was playing, but I wasn't taking anything in. This was getting bloody stupid. It was fucking unbearable. _Shit._

I had _never ever_ wanted a women as much as her. _God knows why._ She was barely civil to me either ignoring me completely or being downright argumentative. But when she had waltzed in wearing those tight jeans that showed off her ass, I couldn't stop my body from reacting. I stayed seated unable to get up due to my 'problem' and tried to look nonchalant. Emmett and the others thankfully seemed to be oblivious to the fact that the women caused me to regress into some kind of lust fuelled teenager.

So, here we are. Watching this film. Or not watching the film in my case. Crap, can this situation get any worse? At least the pizza was good.

I can still feel her presence, even from this far across the room. I need a drink. I _really_ need a drink. Why did I turn down Jaspers offer of a beer? Oh yeah, after last time I had decided not to drink tonight.

I woke up the morning after the Mexican night at Bella and Rosalie's flat on the sofa to the sound of the front door slamming shut. I immediately sat up confused and it had taken me a moment to realize where I was, and then the worst hangover I had had in a long while kicked in. When I had called Heidi to get a car sent over she had just questioned me on what had happened and then laughed at me for being so hung over. Nothing like your assistant knowing all your business.

'I don't know. Ask Edward.'

_Shit. Not paying attention._ 'Ask Edward what?' I looked away from the screen to see everyone now looking me, with no indication of who had called my name.

'Julia Roberts. You know her right? Emmett was always asking me questions like this, based on if I knew some celebrity or was some rumour he had read in the paper true.

'I said hi to her one time at party, Emmett.' I rolled my eyes at him and returned to looking at the screen.

'But you've got to agree she's hot,' he pushed.

I rolled my eyes at him, 'Ew. No, Emmett. Not my type,'

'He's right. She's too old. And married,' Rosalie surprised me by speaking, 'What _is_ your type, Edward? Blonde or brunette?'

'Erm. Pass.' I looked at her briefly and ran my hand through my hair, before turning away again. I didn't want to get into a conversation about my love life right now. 'I thought we were watching the film.'

'Oh, no Eddie,' Emmett grinned, 'This is way too much fun.' Emmett and Jasper shared a look and then laughed at my obvious discomfort. I thought I saw a small smile flash across Bella's face, although I looked away quickly before I got caught staring.

'Yeah, come on Edward, are you seeing someone? You don't seem to have much luck with the ladies recently,' Jasper goaded and I couldn't help but notice Bella's frown. I could almost read their minds, no doubt they were all thinking about the recent report in the tabloids that I was dating some unknown blonde. But the truth was she was just a fan that had asked for an autograph and had hugged me, but the tabloids had twisted it into some torrid love affair.

'Let's just watch the film, shall we?' I responded and once again tried to focus on the film.

'Ah come on, Edward. The ladies want to know,' Emmett ignored me and Alice and Rosalie both agreed. I had a sinking feeling I was being ganged up on.

'No. Because if I am seeing someone you're gonna take this piss,' I pointed at the boys, 'Or if I'm not, Alice is going to try and set me up with someone.'

'I promise, Edward. I won't try and set you up with anyone,' Alice chipped in, 'Come on! What's her name?' She pouted at me, and gave me her patented puppy dog eyes and I groaned in defeat.

'Fine,' I finally said running my hand through my hair once again, 'I'm free and single.' _Unfortunately. _

'Ha ha,' Jasper cried jumping to his feet, 'I told you he would never go out with her. Pay up,' he held his palm up to Emmett and I suddenly understood why they were prodding me for information. Emmett grumbled but got to his feet, pulling a note out of his pocket, handing it over to Jasper.

'Mate, I totally thought she would be your type,' he looked at me with disappointment as he sat back down.

'Yeah, well it's your fault for betting on me. I thought you guys would be over this by now.'

'Anyways, Edward, you didn't tell us who your type was. Blonde or brunette?' Rosalie piped up again.

'He likes brunettes,' Jasper stated, before I could answer. 'And he likes clever girls,' Emmett added, 'To balance Edward's nerd-like tendencies.'

I shook my head, I couldn't believe this. 'Fine. If we're gonna talk about this- Yes, I prefer natural brunettes and I like well educated women from a good family. Someone that I can have a decent conversation with, preferably with similar interests to me. And she should be have a successful career, working in the same industry. And it doesn't hurt if she's easy on the eye.

'But don't even think about setting me up with anyone you two.' I looked at Alice and Rosalie who were sharing meaningful glances and smirked, trying to keep this discussion light.

It was then I heard a snort of laughter and a clear voice piped up, 'Well, it's no surprise that you've not met your ideal woman with a list like that.'

'What do you mean?' I looked at Bella who had crossed her arms and had a disdainful look about her face.

'"Well educated?", "Good family?" You sound like something from the 19th century. Do you need them to have a dowry, as well?' She laughed bitterly, 'You call me a cynic but you're looking for your perfect Stepford wife! Women like that don't exist.'

The room fell silent and the others looked between me and Bella with a mixture of amusement and confusion, 'You assume that all women are cynics like yourself. You doubt the virtues of your own sex,' I spoke slowly attempting to keep myself calm but.

'Not at all,' Bella shrugged in an act of nonchalance, 'I just doubt that any women can live up to your exacting standards, _Cullen_,'

My gaze was hooked on the brilliant brown eyes that were glowering at me with anger. Her face was flushed pink, her chin jutted out in defiance. The whole room was charged with an electric atmosphere, as the noise of the film blaring from the tv and the presence of others in the room faded. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. All I could do was focus on the women in front of me, because, hell, Bella was hot when she was worked up.

'Ooh,' Alice finally spoke up breaking the tension, 'Were getting to the good bit now!' And just like that the Bella broke the connection between our eyes and focused back on the tv. I couldn't help but stare at her, slightly confused at what had happened. Jasper caught my eye and smirked at me, but I just scowled in response and shook my head in warning.

I went back to pretending to watch the film, still struggling with the feelings swirling around inside me. How can one women make me feel so confused?

Some time later after the film ended, I managed to make my excuses to leave, citing the half-truth that I was tired. After I had escaped to the sanctuary of my car, I let out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding. _What the fuck was wrong with me?_

_I exited the car to a series of blinding flashes and the crowd broke into a roar. I could already hear the click of cameras and the paparazzi calling out as I straightened myself out and looked at the scene in front of me. Either side of the carpet were barricades holding back screaming fans. I took a deep breath and turned around to where Heidi and Felix were always waiting for me. _

_But they weren't there. I searched around for them, but couldn't spot them in the large number of people that were milling around. I was on my own. Should I wait or should I go in? My car had already zoomed off, so I had no choice but to go ahead. I made my way up the carpet stopping to greet the first fan who was waving a small notepad and pen. 'Oh my God!' the girl screamed in my ear so loud I thought she would burst the drum, 'Is she here yet?' _

_I looked back confused at her as I realized that she wasn't even looking at me and was still focused on the end of the carpet. Huh? I moved away from her as she continued with her high pitched screaming and moved towards the theatre, as the noise from the crowd built into a crescendo._

_And it suddenly hit me. Nobody was calling my name. Nobody had seemed to have noticed me. It was like I was invisible. The crowd had worked themselves into frenzy. The paparazzis' camera lenses and the journalists' attention all poised to the end of the red carpet awaiting some unknown celebrity. Who was it? _

_The faint sound of a car engine muffled by the rising screams of the crowd alerted me to the fact that whoever it was that was so eagerly anticipated had arrived. I turned round and from my viewpoint at this end of the carpet to see a brunette step out of the car. Although I couldn't see much from this distance I could tell that she was beautiful in her long flowing purple gown. I stood and watched as she made her way up the carpet, smiling for the cameras, signing autographs and greeting fans. She turned and looked in my direction and it was then I recognised her. _

'_Bella?' I called, my feet finally propelling me forward as I strode in her direction. She didn't hear me and carried on her slow journey up the carpet. _

_I called again, 'Bella!' as I moved through the now jostling crowd, trying to find her, 'Bella, it's Edward,' I shouted but once again my cries went ignored as she turned her back to me. She was right in front of me now and I reached out to touch her, but as my hand went to connect with her shoulder I seemed to pass straight through her, my skin a shimmering mirage and I realized that I was falling hand first to the ground... _

My fist connected with something hard and I woke up with a start. I groaned and turned over to lie on my side. From the pain in my fist I had obviously hit my hand on the headboard when I tried to prevent myself from hitting the ground in my dream. I can't believe I had dreamed about her again.

I seemed to dream about Bella a lot recently. Either my memory regurgitating scenes from the club, or sometimes I would dream we were in a windowless room and she was rapidly firing questions at me. But this was a new one. I think I was becoming slightly obsessed and it was driving me crazy.

I got out of bed and took my time showering before dressing. I ate breakfast in front of the TV and checked my emails. After sending a few emails to colleagues and friends, I began to flick through the TV channels restlessly. I was still unused to having whole days off with nothing to do. I was used to Heidi bossing me about, dictating my every move and shepherding me between film sets and hotels, to photo shoots and interviews.

Unable to stand the boredom any longer I switched off the tv and leapt to my feet. I entered my bedroom, picked up my phone from the bedside table and dialled. I stared at the floor whilst the phone was pressed to my ear, the connecting tone ringing. As it rang and rang I impatiently rubbed my forehead, and pulled my hand through my messy hair. Finally, someone picked up.

'Hello?' spoke a groggy voice on the other end of the line.

'Jasper?' I questioned.

'Fuck, Edward. What are you doing ringing this early?'

'Early?' I laughed and checked my watch, 'It almost midday, Jazz,'

'Yeah,' he sounded pissed off, 'It's the weekend.'

'Well, where's Ali? She's always up early.'

'Shopping. With Rose and Bella looking for dresses for the gala.'

'Oh.' I replied. _Bella in a dress..._ Like I needed any more fantasies about her.

'Were you after Ali then?' Jasper asked sounding more awake now.

'Nah. Not really. I'm bored, I was just after some company.'

'Pro Evo?'

'Sound's good. I'll be over in half an hour. Make sure you're dressed.' I heard Jasper groan in response down the other end of the line.

'That was one time Edward. You're never going to forget it are you?'

'No.' I replied between laughs.

'Fucker,' he responded.

'I'll see you in a bit.' Jasper gave his goodbyes as I hung up.

Forty-five minutes later I was seated on the floor of the living room at Jasper and Alice's, playstation controller in hand getting beaten at Emmett and Jaspers favourite computer game.

'Come on, Edward,' Jasper taunted, 'You're making this too easy,'

'Yeah, well, not all of us have time to sit around playing computer games,' I replied focusing intently on the screen.

Jasper made one last shot at goal in the closing seconds of the game, 'And he shoots, he scores!'

My opponent whopped holding up the controller with one hand and pumping his fist in the other before handing up his hand to his forehead in the loser sign.

I flipped him the finger in response, 'Shame Em isn't here to bring you down a peg or two.'

'Ha! Your joking, right? He barely leaves Rosalie's side these days,'

'Really?'

'Yeah.'

'So he's really serious about Rosalie?'

'Yeah, I think so. I mean...when has Emmett ever gone out with a women more than once?'

'Maybe she's just good in the sack.' I replied.

Jasper laughed, 'Well...I don't know but I think it's more than that. He's invited her to the gala so she's going to meet Bob and Sue. I mean it's gotta be serious if he's introducing her to the parents.'

I paused for a moment processing what Jasper had said. He was right, of course. Emmett had never even taken a girl on a second date let alone to meet his parents, oh no, wait, the whole family will be at the gala. Not to mention all of his business colleagues will be attending.

This was worrying. It had been...what? _Three weeks._ Just three weeks. It was too soon. I wasn't sure about this girl. Can she be trusted?

'What do you think about Rosalie?' I looked to Jasper who was setting up for the next game.

'She's...' he looked up at me, 'Don't tell your sister but you've got to admit she's pretty hot. I can see why she's a model... Not my type though. But she seams nice enough. A bit guarded, you know, a tad defensive. Why?'

'Well,' I paused trying to find the right way to frame my words, 'We hardly know this girl and as you pointed out Emmett seems to be in pretty deep. I just don't want him to get hurt by her.'

'Come on, Edward! She's not out to trap him or get one over on him. You need to trust Emmett's judgement.'

'Maybe,' I replied and set up my team's positions for the next game in order to avoid looking at him.

'Yes. You always assume the worst of people. Learn some trust.'

I scowled at him, 'Why do people keep saying that?'

Jasper laughed 'Come on, man! Lighten up. Game's starting.' He pointed towards the screen and I focused my attention back on the computer game.

Over two hours later we had moved on from Pro-evo to Call of Duty and I was finally holding my own against Jasper. He was pretty good on the footie game but was obviously out of practice on shooting games. We were playing one on one and I was successfully managing to hide from Jasper's advances, biding my time for when I could attack. Suddenly, voices could be heard in the hall, followed by the front door closing.

'Jasper?' Alice's voice called from the hall above the rustling of what obviously was shopping bags.

'In here!' he shouted in reply as my character emerged from it's hiding place and I started through the complex maze to where I knew he was. I was advancing on him quickly and Jasper had just realized I was moments from attack.

'Hey, honey,' Alice entered the room and flung her arms around Jasper, breaking his concentration and I used the opportunity to sneak up on him and open fire. Red filled his side of the screen.

'Yes!' I crowed, 'Take that, Whitlock!'

'Nooooooo,' came the cry from Jasper as he realized what had happened, 'Ali...you made me lose!'

I grinned at Jasper who was scowling in defeat, 'It was Alice's fault! She blocked my line of vision.'

'It's just a game, Jazz. Don't be a big baby,' Alice replied as I laughed.

I stopped laughing abruptly as I realized I wasn't the only one laughing. I turned around to see Bella and Rosalie standing in the doorway both girls chuckling. Bella was clutching a shopping bag and was wearing the same jeans as the night before but with a t-shirt and converse trainers.

'Oh...hello,' I said barely managing to keep the surprise out of my voice. I don't know why I'm always surprised when I see her. _She's my sister's best friend, for God's sake. _She's just a women. Doesn'tstop my heart from trying to jump out of ribcage every time I see her. Or me acting like a complete idiot in her presence. I realized I was staring at her when we made brief eye contact but I looked away quickly, burned by the depth in her eyes.

'Boys and their computer games!' Rosalie spoke up shaking her head and Alice nodded in agreement.

'Come on, upstairs. Bella needs to put that dress on,' Alice ushered the girls upstairs, pausing to turn round to look at Jasper and I, 'And tidy this mess up, you two!' She pointed to the coke cans and plates from lunch still sitting on the floor beside us.

The girls came down the stairs shortly after we had finished tidying up as directed.

'Don't fall in that dress, Bee,' Rosalie jibed, laughing at Bella as they made their way downstairs.

'Shut up, Rose,' I heard Bella respond tersely.

As they entered the room I felt the breath leave my lungs. I knew Bella was attractive. _I was attracted to her. _But in the dress she was wearing she was nothing short of beautiful. It had wide straps of black fabric that made up the straps of the dress and a corset style bodice which stopped just below her bust. Mid blue fabric flowed down from the black strips stopped and gathered around her bare feet.

'Wow, Bella,' Jasper spoke up, 'Is that your dress for the gala?'

'Yep,' she grinned and twirled round childishly making the fabric float slightly around her, 'It's too long but Alice is going to take it up for me.'

I watched in silence as Alice made Bella stand up on the coffee table and began pinning the dress to the correct length. I couldn't tear my eyes away from her in the dress. The conversation flowed around me and Bella's attention varied between watching Alice work and talking to Rosalie.

How had I not seen before how simply stunning she was?

Alice caught my eye and smiled at me, 'What do you think, Edward?' She questioned motioning to the dress.

I blanched internally at her questioned. How could I possibly say what I was thinking in front of everyone, that she was beautiful...breathtaking...a goddess. That she was always beautiful no matter what she wore, I suddenly realized. She would only be embarrassed and it would make things awkward.

'It's a nice dress,' I finally settled on, in response to Alice's question and forced my attention away from Bella and back to the tv.

**Wow...another chapter finished. Hope you like it. Please, please review. It would make me very happy! **


	11. Eleven

**Disclaimer: Once again, I own nothing. All the twilight characters belong to Stephanie Meyer, I'm just making up random stories about them. **

**Chapter Eleven**

**BPOV**

'_It's a nice dress_...I'll show him, _it's a nice dress_...it's a fucking amazing dress,' I muttered to myself, 'And I look hot...if I do say so myself.'

I stood in front of the mirror in my room wearing my _nice dress_, my hair in rollers as I put the final touches to my makeup. I had been so excited when I had found the dress. When I had tried it on Rose and Alice agreed it was the perfect dress for the gala. Hell, even Jasper said I looked good. But _he_ said it was just...nice.

Today is my birthday, so I don't even know why I'm sitting here worrying about one off-hand comment made by Edward-_asshole_-Cullen. It's not like I care what he even thinks, so why am I worrying? I know he's going to be there tonight, but I'm not going to let him ruin my night. I plan on pretending it's not my birthday, getting really, really drunk and dancing the night away. _Hopefully._

So why can't I get his face out of my head? _Argh!_ It's so annoying. I don't even like the guy, and I know for certain he doesn't like me. I mean...could he be any more obvious? He stares at me with such a look of distain on his face. Like it's painful to even be in my presence or I'm committing some major crime of social etiquette with every word I speak. But you'd think if I was that horrible he would just ignore me instead of staring at me the whole time? I just can't understand him.

I wish I didn't have to go tonight. Last year I had spent my birthday curled up on the couch with a Chinese takeaway and the BBC Pride and Prejudice series. Now there is a way to spend your birthday. Shame Rose and Ang didn't agree with me. But Rose had to open her big mouth and tell the whole world it was my birthday.

She knew that I hated to make a big production for my birthday. I think she feels my pain after the surprise party of '03, arranged by my Mum, where I had been completely humiliated when I had walked in dressed in the ugly stripy Disney jumper my 85 year old Nan had knitted for my birthday. I was seventeen.

This morning she had simply handed me a card when I woke up and informed me that her, Alice and Ang had arranged for us to have our nails done after work, before waltzing away. Inside the card the message had read:

**Bella, Don't think you're getting out of the gala tonight so don't waste your breath on complaining. And whatever mystery illness you've just decided to use as an excuse...nice try. Happy Birthday, love Rose Petal x **

I heard the front door bang signifying that the others had arrived in the limo. Several loud voices came from the living area and I suspected that birthday surprises were afoot. I carefully unrolled the sticky Velcro rollers from my hair, running my fingers through the curls and then finishing it off with a light spray of hairspray. I took my time checking my makeup one, applying a final coat of mascara and I spritzed some perfume at my neck and on my wrists.

'Come on Bella, I know you're ready,' Rose's voice floated through the door followed by banging, 'Everyone's here and we're waiting for you.'

'I'll be out in a minute,' I called grumpily back at her.

I slipped my silver heels onto my feet, taking one last look in the mirror and exited the room, grabbing my clutch and wrap on the way.

In the kitchen a whole sea of faces looked at me on my entrance into the kitchen, and I felt my skin flush with this knowledge. The first thing I noticed was _him_. Standing to the side, his green eyes bore into mine briefly before he grimaced and then looked away.

'Happy birthday, Bella!' Emmett's loud voice shocked me back into the room, 'Wow! Looking hot, birthday girl.' He scooped me up in a big hug that was fast becoming an Emmett trademark.

'Happy birthday!' Alice squealed just as loud, bouncing at his side. 'You look amazing, by the way.' Alice was wearing a slinky white gown with gold embellishments and matched her shoes. Rose on the other hand, had gone all out with a bright blue halterneck dress with ruffles that stopped mid thigh. She had said when showing it to me, that god didn't give her legs like these to be stuck under a floor length gown, to which I had rolled my eyes.

'You saw me twice today, Ali. And you wished me happy birthday both those times too!'

'I know but I brought cake this time and everyone else is here now,' she responded.

'And I brought alcohol,' Emmett piped up, holding up a bottle, 'I thought we could do some pre-dinner shots,' he grinned.

'Now that is my kind of birthday,' I smiled back at him. Rosalie started gathering glasses in the kitchen.

'Happy birthday Bella,' Jasper gave me a shy hug. 'You look great,' he handed me an overly wrapped present.

'Ah, Jasper,' I took the gift reluctantly, 'You shouldn't have.'

'I didn't...Alice chose it,' he nodded in her direction by way of explanation.

'Thanks.'

A loud throat clearing could be heard from behind me and I swivelled around to see two people that I didn't recognise. There was a tall women with olive skin and dark ringlets, she was wearing a black cocktail dress and amazing red shoes. The man was as big as Emmett and looked equally as uncomfortable in his tux, but with a sallow complexion, dark hair and a goatee.

'Oh, my god,' Alice jumped, 'I forgot to introduce you guys...Heidi, Felix,...this is Rose, Emmett's girlfriend and the birthday girl, Bella.'

Handshakes were exchanged and both wished me a happy birthday.

'Bella, huh? It's great to finally meet you- we've heard a lot about you,' Heidi said suddenly turning and grinning at Edward, 'I'm Edward's assistant. You know, it should have been your job to introduce us, Edward.'

Edward scowled and ran his hand through his hair, 'I knew you would introduce yourselves eventually, Heidi. Erm, Rosalie...can I use your bathroom?'

'Sure,' Rose looked surprised at his address, 'it's just down the hall.' We all watched as he slinked moodily back down the hall out of sight.

'Heidi, how long have you worked with Edward?' Rosalie broke the silence lingering in Edwards wake.

'Oh, I've been Edward's assistant for almost two years now. That boy is useless without someone to organise him. Felix started working as Edward's bodyguard just over a year ago.'

'And we've been dating ever since,' Felix spoke in a very deep voice, and looked down lovingly at Heidi.

I opened my gifts from Emmett, Alice and Jasper and once Edward had returned, the lights on the cake were lit. The group sang happy birthday to me, Emmett and Alice both singing as loud as they could. All the while I could feel his gaze on me, it left me skin tingling and my stomach churning slightly. I tried to pick _his_ voice out of the others singing, but couldn't make his out. I blew out the candles graciously, but blushed, not enjoying all the attention.

Soon, shots were poured and passed around enthusiastically by Emmett. Jasper proclaimed a toast, 'To the birthday girl!' with a wink at me, and we all clinked glasses. I downed the shot, throwing my head back and closing my eyes, savouring the burn of the alcohol as it slipped down my throat. When I lowered my head back and opened my eyes, I was staring directly into soft green orbs. He looked at me unabashed, eyes probing inquisitively, I felt like he was surveying my soul and reading my innermost thoughts and feelings.

'Right, troupes,' Emmett proclaimed loudly to the room and I turned to focus on him instead of the bronze haired, green eyed god, 'Let's get this show on the road.'

Moments later we were all out on the street, waiting to file into the sleek black limo with blacked out windows that was pumping out music. It had been Alice's idea to hire a limo for the night to drive us as a group to the hotel. Edward stood holding the door of the limo open, and as I moved forward to get in he held out his hand to help me in. I fumbled for a moment, unsure what to do, before reluctantly placed my hand in his warm palm. I stepped into the limo, my attention focused on the feeling of his fingers grasped around mine. He bent down as I scooted into the seat, 'Happy birthday, by the way,' he murmured in an almost unintelligible voice before flashing me a brief crooked grin.

And then he was gone, leaving me stunned and Alice was sliding into the seat next to me saying, 'Scoot up, birthday girl!' After we were all were all seated in the limo, Edward jumped in closing the door behind him. The drive over was fun, Rosalie handed out champagne and Emmett and Edward argued over the sound system. I guess Emmett was right when he said Edward was a music snob, as he kept changing Emmett's music choices- it was the only time I had heard Edward laugh and his whole face lit up with mirth.

The limo pulled to a stop and there was a short pause as the driver exited the car and opened the door to the limo. Edward took a deep breath, and sharing a quick glance with Felix before exiting the limo, swiftly followed by Felix and then Heidi. One by one we exited the limo and as I stepped out onto the street I was stunned by the flashlights of the paparazzi lining the doors to the hotel. I saw a quick glimpse of Edward entering the hotel, flanked by Heidi and Felix before Emmett held his arm out to me and escorted both Rosalie and me inside.

The gala was being held at the ballroom in the luxurious Connaught hotel in Mayfair and we entered through the lobby to a busy room filled with circular tables around which people were stood clustered. A server offered us champagne from a tray and Emmett guided us over to where Alice and Jasper were standing with an older couple and a balding man.

'Bella!' Alice called as we approached, 'Come meet my parents!'

'Mum, Dad...this is Bella Swan my friend from work,' Alice beamed indicting the older couple, 'This is my Mum, Esme, and my Dad... Dr. Carlisle Cullen.'

Esme had caramel coloured hair, set in soft waves to her shoulders which perfectly complimented her plum coloured dress. Her eyes were grey and she was slim and petite in a similar way to Alice. The first thing I noticed about Carlisle was the steely blue eyes that Alice had obviously inherited. His features were angular, his blonde hair flecked ever so slightly with grey and he looked really good in his tuxedo. So, I guess we know where Edward gets his good looks from.

'It's lovely to meet you, dear. Alice has told us so much about you,' Esme shook my hand, before Carlisle held his hand out to me.

'And I hear birthday congratulations are in order, too,' Carlisle spoke up.

'Thanks. It's nice to meet you both,' I smiled at them before turning to glare at Alice and hissed, 'I told you not to tell anyone about my birthday.'

'Sorry, it just slipped out,' she whispered back looking sheepish.

'Emmett,' Carlisle smiled warmly at his nephew. I stood to the side watching as Emmett embraced his Aunt and Uncle in massive bearlike hugs. I let my eyes wander around the room, and spotted Edward circulating the room with Heidi and Felix. He had a smile plastered on his face, but it didn't reach his eyes and his attention kept flicking around the room. I sudden throat clearing brought me back into the conversation.

'Oh sorry, this is my Rosie,' Emmett spoke proudly and stood back as Carlisle and Esme exchanged greetings with Rose.

The balding man suddenly returned with a blonde haired women on his arm. On closer inspection the man was tall but with a paunch not disguised by his cummerbund. The women's bleached blonde hair was in an elegant twist at the back of her head, but looked stiff from too much hairspray. Her sharp features were covered in layers of make-up, and she looked pasty against her powder blue dress.

'Emmett,' she spoke stiffly and pressed her frosted pink lips to his cheek.

'Mum, Dad.' He replied to my surprise, before clapping his father on the back, 'This is Miss Rosalie Hale.'

The woman suddenly turned to Rosalie and made a big production of looking her up and down, as if assessing her. Rosalie stood up a little taller in response, not easily intimidated.

'I thought you said you we're bringing someone special? You know the Stanley's have brought Jessica, tonight and she's looking very beautiful.' Her tone was condescending. Rosalie snorted in response, whilst Emmett clenched his fists and his face turned a bright shade of red.

'Susan!' Esme gasped.

'It's fine, Emmett,' Rosalie soothed whilst glaring at his mother.

'Esme, Carlisle,' she gushed and turned around completely ignoring Rose, 'I'm glad you could make it.'

An awkward silence followed, and I looked at Rose who was still calming Emmett down. She was obviously hurt by Emmett's Mum's comments but was trying not to let it show. Jasper who was standing off to the side, looking uncomfortable and holding Alice's hand as if ready to protect from harm at a moment's notice.

'It's good to do our part for charity, Sue.' Carlisle spoke brusquely, 'I see the Forster's over there. Let's go say hello, Esme.' Carlisle prompted leading his wife away.

'Come on Bella, you're sitting at a table with us,' Alice grabbed my hand and began dragging me back through the lobby over to the ballroom with Jasper following behind. We were seated a couple of tables away from the stage at the front. The round tables were beautifully dressed with crisp white tablecloths, silver cutlery and sparkling glasses with a beautiful centrepiece of roses and lilies. Uncorked bottles of both red and white wine were in the centre of the table along with jugs of water.

Little place cards indicated where we were seated- I was directly opposite Alice and on inspection of the cards either side of my seat, directly between Carlisle and Edward. Sitting next to _him_. _Great. _The ballroom began filling up with people and we were soon joined at our table by Carlisle and Esme, Heidi and Felix and finally, Edward took his place next to me.

'Red or white, Bella?' Carlisle asked politely, holding a bottle of red wine. But before I could respond, a hand began pouring white wine from a bottle into my glass. Carlisle raised an eyebrow in question at Edward. I turned to my right, looking at him as he concentrated on pouring. The guile of the man. How does he even know what wine I drink?

'Bella only drinks white wine,' Edward stated calmly, I to which Carlisle nodded and then turned to offer Esme wine.

'How do you know that?' I asked him, scowling. Picking up the glass I took a sip to distract myself once more from the intensity of his gaze.

'You brought your own wine to Alice's when she had that movie night,' he responded quietly, 'She prefers red.' He noticed that? He looked at me briefly before his eyes darted away again. I gave him a dirty look before turning away, determined to ignore him and his disapproving looks.


	12. Twelve

**Disclaimer: Once again, I own nothing. All the twilight characters belong to Stephanie Meyer, I'm just making up random stories about them. **

**Happy new year to all- Hope you had peaceful holiday season. Big thanks to everyone that is reading this and to those that took the time to review the last chapter: ****auroraboralis**,** wanda1988 and** **pfarrell; this chapter is for you guys.**

**I've put a playlist on my profile if anyone is interested in what I am listening to. Song for this chapter: Millionaire – Kelis, this song reminds me of many nights in my Uni days going out partying. Hopefully that will set the scene for this next chapter. Happy reading! **

**Chapter Twelve**

**EPOV**

I sat at the table tapping my leg.

I hated this. I hated wearing formal clothes. I hated being turned into a performing seal for my Aunts benefit. If this wasn't for this whole charity thing, there was no way I would get sucked into doing this every year. _Really._

I ran a hand through my hair. I would so much rather be at home with a beer.

I was sat next to Bella as she made conversation with my father. I wanted to know what they were talking about. My father seemed generally interested in what Bella was saying. Maybe, if I leant in I could hear their conversation. I would have an excuse to get close to Bella...

I large tap on my shoulder made me jump.

'Shit, Emmett,' I huffed as he laughed, 'A bit of warning.'

'Come on, we're up.' He said as I stood and followed him to the edge of the stage and up a small flight of stairs. On one side at the back of the stage stood Aunt Sue talking to a woman I recognised from last year's gala as the charity manger of the children's hospital. Basically, the ideal was that the McCarty family business held this gala every year to help raise funds for the kids. I think it was Emmett's grandmother's idea originally but Aunt Susan had warped it into some sort of clique-y stuck-up social event.

'Mary, this is my nephew, Edward Cullen,' my aunt introduced me to the women whose hand I shook politely.

A stage hand had a brief word with Emmett, before fiddling with some switches until the microphone at the podium emitted a high pitched noise and then hummed. The noise alerted the diners to the fact that something was happening on the stage, and the volume hushed. The eyes of the room followed Emmett as he walked up to the podium to speak.

'On behalf of McCarty Logistics, I would like to welcome you all here this evening,' Emmett began. From his outside demeanour no-one would suspect Em of being a shrewd businessman or being any good at public speaking. But surprisingly, he is.

'Firstly, thankyou for choosing to support our charity gala tonight. It has been a McCarty family tradition for a number of years to show our support of the Harley Street Children's Hospital by organising this annual event and this would certainly not be possible without all your generous donations.

'I would like to introduce, Mary Gibbs on behalf of the Harley's Street Children's Hospital to say a few words.'

My concentration slipped as the women took to the podium and prattled on about what a difference the gala made to the hospital. I looked out to the table where my family was seated. Bella was listening intently to what the woman was saying. On a table closer to the stage, Rosalie was seated next to Emmett's empty chair and Uncle Bob, their business associates were also seated at that table. I had witnessed Aunt Sue's reaction to Rosalie's accompanying Emmett to tonight's event. As predicted she had not reacted well to the news that Emmett was dating a model.

It was safe to say that Aunt Sue was a snob. She had spent all of Emmett's life telling him what to do. She was convinced that he would marry someone from her social circle; a 'nice' girl. But Emmett obviously wasn't interested and rebelled in the only way he knew how- by becoming a player. Rosalie was the only girl Em had ever brought home to meet his parents.

The crowd applauded and I focused again as Emmett made his way back to the podium.

'Well, now is the bit we've all been waiting for- the results of the silent auction.

'Thankyou to all those who have placed bids on items tonight. Unfortunately, we have been unable to auction a date with Edward Cullen this year, due to Mr. Cullen's busy work schedule. He has agreed however, to present the winning items of the auction tonight and will be around after dinner to sign autographs for a small donation to tonight's fundraising.

'So without further delay, may I present academy award nominated and _Moda's_ most eligible bachelor...the one and only...Mr. Edward Cullen.'

I groaned at Emmett's words._ Shit._ Now I was going to have to spend the rest of the evening signing autographs and making small talk with fans. I swear he gets a kick out of making me uncomfortable. I'm going to have to get that fucker back at some point. I took the piece of paper handed to me by my Aunt and walked up to take Emmett's place at the podium as he stood aside.

'Thanks, Emmett,' I glared at him subtly hoping the rest of the ballroom wouldn't notice, 'Good evening everybody. And now, down to business.

'The winning bid for dinner for two at Cipriani's was £2,467.90 and goes to...Mrs. Shirley Evans.'

I squeal to rival Alice's could be heard and the crowd applauded as a large women with frizzy red hair and a clashing red dress made her way up to the stage. I presented her with the envelope Emmett handed me and she grasped my hand before making her way back to the table.

And so I worked my way through the list, announcing bids and presenting guests with their prizes as the guests looked on, hungry and waiting for the dinner.

I stopped when I reached the only item that I had actually placed a bid on. An earring and necklace set from Tiffany's that I caught my Mum looking at with interest. I read the name next to it. _Bloody git._

'The winning bid for the Tiffany and Co's diamond earring and pendent set...£1,115.50...Dr. Carlisle Cullen,' I read out bitterly.

My family's table erupted into laughter and applause, and I watched as my Dad made his way up to the stage with a grin on his face. I could see my Mum lean over and talk to Bella.

He did this every year. He outbid me on whatever items that I bid on. Half the time he would give them back to me, or let me pay him for them. But he just liked to see my face when he one something.

My Dad held his hand out to me when he reached me, which I reluctantly shook, 'Unlucky, Son.' He was still grinning at me, 'What were you going to do with it anyway?'

I shook my head at him, 'I saw Mum eyeing it up earlier. Every year dad, every bloody year.'

'Sorry, son. You know how it is. Can't let you have the upper hand.'

He shook Emmett's hand and took the tiffany's box before returning back to his seat. I read out the last few remaining items up for auction and then Emmett finished up by thanking the audience. Thank fuck that was over. Not that I get to relax yet. There was still the rest of the evening to go.

Dinner was painful.

I spent the whole meal in silence as Bella conversed with my parents. She completely ignored me the whole time. Not a glance, not even a slight head turn. Her presence next to me was so tempting.

Heidi and Felix were in conversation with Ali and Jasper, so I had nothing to distract me from her sitting next to me.

_Well this is fun._ At least the food was good. And there was plenty of wine.

As I sat toying with my chocolate mousse, a hand suddenly shot out from my right and pulled my pudding away from me.

'What?' Heidi protested around a mouthful of chocolate, 'It's not like you were eating it.' She didn't even have the decency to look guilty.

I grunted in response, tossing the spoon onto the table and crossed my arms.

'And are we going to have to put up with grumpy Edward for the rest of the evening?' She asked in a pleasantly sarcastic voice.

I gave Heidi a sullen look, daring her to say something about it. After working together for two years Heidi had become good at ignoring my moods.

'You could just talk to her you know.'

'What?'

'Bella,' she stated with a nod in her direction, 'Just talk to her.'

'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'No. I'm sure you don't,' She arched her eyebrow at me, 'Just talk to her. Be yourself, Edward, and be honest with her. Tell her that you like her.'

'I don't like her.'

'No. Of course you don't.' She laughed.

'_I don't.' _

'Edward, you've sat there the whole night sneaking glances at her when you think no one else is looking.'

'Heidi,' I growled. _Why does she have to always push me?_

'Ok, ok,' she held her hands up, 'I'll just shut up now.'

'Yeah. You do that.' I scowled at her one last time and she turned away to talk to Felix.

Well.

I couldn't talk to her now. If I did then I would be confirming Heidi's suspicions that I like her. Which I don't.

Okay. Well, maybe just a little.

Ah... who am I kidding. I like her a lot. More than I've ever liked another woman before. Which, quite frankly, scares me shitless.

I glanced to my left again and she was still in conversation with my mum and dad. I wonder if anyone else had noticed me looking at her. Looking around the table, it seemed unlikely

She's...well...she's perfect. Funny and beautiful and intelligent. And doesn't treat me purely as a celebrity. And she obviously gets on with my family.

I hadn't noticed in my pondering that the band had set up on the stage and had started to play. Uncle Bob and Aunt Sue were heading onto the dance floor around which the tables were circled, where Emmett was already leading Rosalie exuberantly in circles. He was laughing heartily with his head thrown back, and then he pulled Rosalie in closer to him, smiling.

I could ask Bella to dance.

It would be nice to hold her in my arms. _Hold her in my arms?_ God, Cullen, you sound like a pussy. But it would be nice. What the hell is happening to me? What is she doing to me?

I wonder if she would say yes? I don't know what I would do if she flat out refused me. But surely she wouldn't say no. I mean, what reason would she have to say no? It was only one dance.

As I was weighing up the concept of asking Bella to dance, my parents had risen out of the seat and made their way to the dance floor. Bella watched them twirling around and then looked at the occupants of our table but stopped before she got to me. Okay, so she's still ignoring me. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and took a sip of wine.

'Bella?' I asked, quietly trying to get her attention. She immediately looked at me, confusion in her eyes.

'Would...' I began, before a tap on my shoulder made me turn around.

The large women with frizzy red hair was standing in front of me shifting nervously. I immediately registered that she was clutching a napkin and pen in her hand.

'We...were wondering...if it would be possible to get your autograph and maybe a few photos? I mean if you don't mind...' she tailed off.

'Oh!' _Shit. _I had forgotten about that. Like I can say no. 'Of course. _We?_'

'Oh, just the girls and I,' she pointed towards a where a cluster of ladies mostly in their twilight years were stood.

'Sure,' I shot Bella an apologetic look and stood up, 'I'll come over to you, so we don't disturb my table.'

The women nodded and scuttled back toward the table in question, obviously signalling that she had been successful because the group broke out into flurry of noise.

'Some help?' I gave Heidi a pleading look.

'Nope. You're on your own with this one. I'm off duty.'

'Well, thanks a lot.'

'You're welcome.' She smiled evilly.

I plastered on my best crowd-pleasing smile, trying to look outwardly happy at the prospect of making small talk with fans and signing autographs. On my way over I risked a glance back at Bella who, for once, was watching me with an ill-concealed look of distain on her face.

Maybe it was good thing I didn't ask her to dance after all.

**AN: Please review and let me know your thoughts, it would be much appreciated. I was thinking of giving a sneak preview of the next chapter which is more of the gala to those who are kind enough to review. So get on it! **


	13. Thirteen

**Disclaimer: I don't own the twilight characters or the pride and prejudice plot. No copyright infringement is intended with this story.**

**Okay- Just to update you guys: Sorry for the major delay in doing anything with this story in such a long while. Real life tends to get in the way a bit and I have to make some time to write my thesis from somewhere. I have divided the existing chapters of assumptions for the BPOV/EPOV into their own chapters. So there are now more chapters but they are shorter. I am hoping that this means that I will be able to update more frequently. No promises though! This chapter is all new so I'll let you get on with reading it (Don't forget to review!). Enjoy!

* * *

**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**BPOV **

Another woman, this time with a lilac dress and bobbed brown hair, was beaming at the camera. Her arm was wound tightly around the waist of Edward Cullen who in turn had politely slung his arm around her back. He smiled at the camera staying motionless, his pristine smile fixed, until the flash of the bulb indicated the photo had been taken. And then the routine continued, he signed his autograph, exchanging small talk with whichever fan it was this time before moving onto the next person and the process continued again.

It was at this point that I noticed he wasn't wearing a tux. Every other man in the room was wearing a tux of some description.

But he wasn't.

He was dressed in a dark grey suit, complete with waistcoat, a pristine white shirt and a green silk tie. He looked good. Hell, he looked fucking hot. But why couldn't he wear a tux like all the other men? Why did he have to be different?

'It's fascinating to watch, isn't it?'

I jumped slightly at the sound of Heidi's voice and its close proximity. She was sitting next to me in his empty seat, now turned to face the rest of the ballroom.

'Yeah,' I had to agree, 'It's a bit crazy.'

'You know he really hates it.'

I looked at her in surprise and raised my eyebrow in question.

'I know,' she laughed, 'he's a good actor. But if you look closely, you can tell he's uncomfortable.'

She paused and we both watched as one overzealous fan, a middle aged women, threw her arms around him in a hug. He grimaced slightly in shock but managed to laugh it off. After she released him, his right hand raked through his hair a couple of times, whilst the other was thrust deep into his pocket.

'He doesn't like the crowds of screaming fans, well, just the crowds of fans in general.'

I looked up at him again, his head bowed down as he concentrated on signing the autograph. I frowned.

'But surely, it comes with the territory? It's what celebrities _do_... they thrive on it.'

'Nah. There's just some celebs out there that give the rest of them a bad name. I mean, sure, dealing with_ some_ fans is inevitable, but some of them just take it to the extreme. It can be a bit overwhelming at times.'

He looked up at us, confusion in his eyes. Realizing that I was still staring at him I focused my gaze on the dance floor where Alice and Jasper and Rosalie and Emmett were still dancing.

'I guess there are pro's and con's to every job,' I answered, wanting to be diplomatic. I didn't really agree with her...the type of person that worked in showbiz generally were attention seekers.

Heidi laughed, 'What do you do?'

'I thought Edward would have told you that!' She shook her head.

'I'm a journalist. I work at _Moda_ with Alice. I interviewed him last week.'

She let out a hearty laugh. 'It's a small world, I should have known! So what was he like?'

'Hmm...,' I paused, 'He was... difficult... kept asking me questions in response to mine.'

'Sounds like Edward,' she quipped with a sideways look at me. We both burst out laughing.

Felix returned and looked between us, 'What's so funny?'

Heidi calmed down enough to speak. 'Ah, nothing important, baby. Everything ok?'

'Yeah, fine. Would you like to dance?' He asked holding his hand out for her to take.

'Go.' I waved them away.

'Are you sure?' Heidi asked as she stood up. I nodded at them and they headed onto the dance floor.

I barely sat there for a moment before Emmett bounded up to me and pulled me up out of my seat, 'Time to dance, Birthday girl!'

'You sure?' I asked Rosalie who was following Emmett, echoing Heidi's earlier words. She shook her head at me, 'I need a drink! He's got more energy than a five year old at a birthday party. You go try to tire him out.'

And then all of sudden the room was spinning and I was being led by Emmett in some kind of waltz. I had to admit he was a good dancer.

'Having a nice time?' he asked smiling down at me.

'You know, Em, I have to admit I am. This was a good idea.' It surprised even me what a good time I was having. 'A really good idea'

He beamed at me. 'Best birthday ever?'

'It's definitely up there,' I responded.

'May I cut in?' a smooth voice asked from behind me. Emmett stopped abruptly a confused expression on his face, 'I dunno...'

He paused, 'Ok. Fine. I guess it's your turn to dance with the birthday girl.'

Jasper took Emmett's place, and once again the room and people were spinning around me. We circled around the dance floor evenly, at a slower tempo than Emmett's vigorous waltzing. It was soothing and we fell into an easy rhythm, chatting away amiably. After a few circuits of the floor, and a change of songs, I chanced a glance back out across to our table. The rest of our friends were standing or sitting, drinks in hand, laughing and talking. Except Rose.

She was standing talking to a guy whose back was to me. Her expression was animated as she talked to him, her brow furrowed and I knew that had I been close enough to see her eyes would be flashing with icy anger. We circled around the other side of the room, and I turned my head to see Rose again.

She had her head thrown back in laughter, a sarcastic smile played at her lips as she stared him down. All I could see was the back of his head. He was wearing black trousers and a white shirt, the remnants of a tux. Oily hair slicked back and hanging in a ponytail down his back. And then he turned, looked at me with a small smile and I froze internally, making me stumble mid-waltz.

I gave my excuses distractedly to Jasper and hurried back over to the table, my stomach filling with dread. By the time I was half way across the dance floor, he was fleeing from Rosalie with one final painful glance in my direction.

'_Rose_?' I hissed, 'What the _hell_ did _he_ want?'

'Nothing. It was nothing...' She replied, but her flushed face told me that it certainly wasn't nothing.

'It didn't look like nothing...' Alice piped up from where she was stood next to a concerned looking Jasper.

I glared at Rosalie, who looked back as if defying me to get an answer out of her. I raised my eyebrow at her, indicating my right to know what had gone on and she let out a dejected huff.

'He was asking about you, obviously. Who you were seeing... where you were working...that sort of stuff.'

'You didn't tell him anything?' The question shot out my mouth before I could think about it.

'No, what sort of idiot do you take me for?' Rose looked at me indignantly, 'I told him to fuck off and leave you alone.'

My body relaxed in relief that he had gone, and I let out a big breath, 'Good. Thanks,' I smiled shakily at my still fuming best friend.

Jasper, satisfied that nothing was wrong wandered back over to the table but Alice, ever inquisitive, wasn't giving up so easily, 'Who was it?'

Rosalie glared at me once again. She was sullenly reminding me that she didn't like my method of dealing with this. A conversation we had had many times before. Alice sensing something amiss huffed, folding her arms and joined Rose in her intimidate-Bella stare-out. With best friends like these who needs enemies. I groaned internally. _Fine._

'Jacob Black...' I admitted, quietly. I watched for Alice's reaction, noting the moment the name registered with her.

She gasped, 'As in...Vertigo, Jacob Black?'

'Yup...as in Bella's-weirdo-stalker-ex-boss-Jacob-Black,' Rosalie added.

'I made the mistake of going on one date with him...' I began.

'He's the reason you left vertigo?' Alice blurted out.

'Yeah...we went on the worst date ever! He was all gropey…he apparently thought we were some kind of thing and told the whole office...sacked me when I set him straight.' I explained briefly my history with Jacob Black, leaving out some of the more grizzly details. The times he would catch me in a corner of the office, propositioning me for another date. The way he would look at me, the touches that used to chill my bones and turn my stomach. I always managed to find an excuse why I was busy but he never got the subtle hint. In the end when I finally snapped he turned nasty, and sacked me.

'And then he kept calling the flat and Bella's mobile. Oh god, and he used to send stuff, do you remember?' Rose face showed her

'Yeah. Flowers. And lingerie. _Sex toys._' Just the thought of the dread when those packages used to arrive made me shiver.

'Wow,' Alice's eyes bugged out and she took a deep breath as if processing the information. 'Sex toys? That is so creepy.'

'God, I know...' I covered my face with my hands willing the memories to go away. My stomach was churning, the heavy feeling of dread filling my chest again. I could feel a headache beginning to pound in the back of my head.

'Did you call the police?' I heard Alice question.

'No.' Rose responded, '_She_ wouldn't. I was all for it but she Bella didn't want a fuss. She left vertigo and we changed the phone numbers.'

'Having fun girls?' Emmett's voice suddenly boomed and I looked up to see him smiling sloppily at us, one arm around Rose holding a beer bottle, the other around Alice.

He pointed his beer at me grinning, 'You look like you need a drink, birthday girl!'

I couldn't help but smile at him. Rosalie smirked at me with an evil grin in her eye, before suggesting 'How about some shots? It is Bella's birthday after all!'

'Yeah! Shots! Great idea, Rosie baby,' Emmett enthused loudly.

'Rose! You remember what happened last time we did shots!' I tried to reason but Emmett was already dragging me towards the bar by my hand.

In no time at all, I was stood at the bar clutching a glass of tequila in my hand as I waited for Emmett to hand everyone, sans Edward, their shot. Emmett was beaming- at least someone was having fun. I put all thoughts of Jacob Black at the back of my mind. He couldn't get to me here. I was determined that he wasn't going to ruin my night.

Emmett raised a toast 'To our birthday girl,' and we all downed the shot. I winced at the taste. _Urgg! _I hate tequila.

I had now progressed to drinking fruity cocktails the girls were supplying me with. It was way past the end of the evening and the alcohol was starting to make its full effects known. Surprisingly I was having fun, although I don't know how much that was down to what I was drinking.

I was feeling quite drunk. Actually, scrap that. I was feeling very drunk.

_I was fucking wasted._ But, hey, it was my birthday.

We were still hanging out by the bar. Conversation and laughter was free flowing. I had spent some time chatting with Jasper and Emmett, getting to know them. I had been observing Rosalie and Emmett, who had been very touchy feely all night. I had never seen Rose like this with a man before…she was almost tender, loving. _Well._ As tender as Rosalie_ 'ice-queen' _Hale ever gets.

Nobody seemed concerned that Edward was still missing. _Fuck._

I can't believe I had thought of him.

Why am I so bothered by him? He hates me.

_Argh_, the way he stares at me. It took all my willpower at dinner to ignore him and not to turn and look him in the eye even though the prickles on the back of my neck told me he was watching me. Constantly. His green eyes had locked onto mine on a couple of occasions before they flickered away again. The underlying emotions deep within them were hard to figure out. At times they darkened minutely, reminding me of the hunger of his stare that night in the club. _God_,_ how he had looked at me that night…_

I huffed not liking the path my thoughts had taken me.

Deciding it was time to visit the ladies I asked Alice the location of the bathrooms, turning down her offer to accompany me. I made my way back out into the lobby of the hotel, in the direction Alice pointed.

I walked quickly hoping nobody would notice me, stumbling slightly unsteady on my feet. _Whoa! Definitely not drinking any more alcohol tonight. _

I made a mental note to drink some water when I got back to the bar as I continued through the throngs of people. I _so_ didn't want to have a hangover tomorrow morning…not like the last time I went out with Rosalie... _shit._

I was on a direct collision path with someone moving swiftly in my direction, I realized a little too late. I managed to stop short of crashing into them, but my alcohol skewed reaction time resulted in me almost toppling into a very hard and definitely masculine chest.

Two hands came out, grasping me by my forearms and steadying me. My skin tingled, becoming warm where the mysterious hands came into contact with my skin. Faced with a broad waistcoat-clad chest, I watched the thin pale fingers that grasped my arms, flexing and unflexing their fingers.

I looked up to into the face of the person I had almost collided with, intending to apologise but was unable to stop the gasp from escaping my mouth as my heart leapt in my chest.

Unmistakable green eyes were bore down at me.

He had removed his jacket and tie and I was momentarily fascinated by the fact that his shirtsleeves were now rolled up, exposing the length of his arms. Returning my gaze to his face, he was eyeing me intently still. His eyes steady, gaze unwavering, fire dancing behind the dark green.

I squirmed as my heart began thumping rapidly beneath my ribcage. I didn't like the way he was staring. There was no guarding against his probing. I felt like my whole soul was visible for him and only him to see. I took a step back anyway and he released his psychical hold on me.

His gaze briefly flittered somewhere else in the room and something inside me snapped, and I was suddenly reminded of why I _really_ didn't like him.

'Why are you looking at me like that?' I questioned boldy, my tongue loosened by the alcohol.

'Come and dance with me.' A statement not a question. His voice was low and gravelly, it didn't waver. He expected me to submit. To just agree to dance with him despite his behaviour towards me tonight. _Asshole._

'No. I don't want to dance with you.'

I cringed at the way my voice sounded to my ears. I was acting like a petulant child.

He spoke so quietly. 'Why?' His gaze never left mine and I could see the imperceptible softening in his eyes. His smile wavered before failing, his brow furrowing.

I could tell he was hurt, yet I couldn't stop the words before I spat them out viciously.

'Do I need a reason?'

He held his hands up and muttered gruffly, 'My apologies.' And then turned and walked away.

I watched his retreating steps until he disappeared into the crowd out of view, before remembering that I was stood marooned in the lobby. Turning away swiftly I practically ran for cover into the ladies bathroom and locked myself into a cubical.

_What the fuck just happened?_

I turned down the lid and sat down with my head in my hands.

Did I really just turn down Edward Cullen?

_Holy shit._

Oh god, I did. I did.

Why did I do that?

_Warm, soft lips tasting of beer and cinnamon...Hair, so silken, grasped in my fingers as our tongues battled…Tasting...these kisses were heaven…_

_No!_ No. He's an asshole. _A sullen, egotistical, asshole._ But a beautiful asshole, a small voice somewhere in my consciousness reminded me.

But, no. He's an asshole. Who hates me. The way he looks at me with such distain painted on his face.

I won't let him get to me. _I can't._

Finishing up in the bathroom I took a deep breath and exited. I headed back towards the bar, but before I had taken a second step I found myself being pulled backwards. I stumbled looking down, trying to find my footing until I felt my back slam against the wall.

Confusion panicked my alcohol-addled brain until I looked up to see who had grabbed me. A hard body pressed into the length of me, my back crushed against the wall.

I froze. My stomach lurched and I fought back the bile that was rising in my throat. My limbs started shaking as I automatically tried to shrink away from the man before me.

No. _No!_

'_Isabella,_' he crooned, 'At last…'

With one hand either side of me Jacob Black had backed me against the wall caging me between his arms. And all I could think about was that Rosalie was right. I should have told the police. I should have let Alice come to the toilet with me. I should have said yes to Edward Cullen.

A quick survey of the surrounding area told me that I was trapped and alone.

'Beautiful, Bella,' I froze as he reached a hand out to stroke a coil of my hair, 'I've missed you….'

He leaned in towards me and I instinctively turned my face away from his. My body jerked in response as he buried his face into the crook of my neck.

'I was waiting for you…' he crooned into my neck, 'After our little lovers tiff, I thought you would come running back to me. When you realized you had been wrong.'

'I..I…' My mouth moved and sounds came out but I couldn't formulate any words. I was frozen.

'Why didn't you come back to me?' He pleaded, his word innocent but laced with an undertone of menace. I could feel his hot breath fanning into my neck.

One hand moved to grip the hair at the nape of my neck. 'Answer me!' He spat his tone raised, pulling harshly on my hair.

Help. Somebody help me. I wanted to scream, to shout. Anything. But my body would not obey my thoughts. My eyes flitted about the room, searching swiftly. No one had noticed. To the rest of the world we were a couple in an intimate embrace. Not a women in a dangerous chokehold.

Black's other hand began wandering about my body. Palming my breast roughly. _Please someone._ _Anyone._

And then he was there. Watching me once again, like he had for the entire night. Only this time his gaze was edged with anger. I pleaded with him, with my eyes. _I'm sorry. I was wrong. Save me, please. _But then he was gone again. He just disappeared.

Jacob's began to make its journey southwards.

_Oh my god this is it. _

_Help._ But then I heard a familiar booming laugh and the sounds to call for help finally came tumbling out my mouth.

* * *

**AN: What did you think? Leave me a review to let me know your thoughts! Go on, press the green button, I know you want to! Billy xx**


	14. Fourteen

**Disclaimer: I don't own the twilight characters or the pride and prejudice plot. No copyright infringement is intended with this story.**

**AN: Woo! Another chapter. I think this is a record for me, as it is the quickest chapter I have written yet . **

**Many thanks to all those who have added this story to their alerts or favourites and to those who have and continue to review: wanda1988, auroraboralis, katarzynapukpuk, MrsSadhbhPattinson. A couple of people have commented that they can't understand why my story is not more known…the answer is…I don't know. So, if you like my story, spread the word! **

**A special shout out goes to my beta, **_**MrsSadhbhPattinson**_**, who has just come on board. Thanks so much for your help; this chapter is dedicated to her! **

**I'll let you get on with reading it now!**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**EPOV**

_I have to get out of here._

I ran my hand through my head was beginning to pound. The rest of those fuckers had gone to the bar over an hour ago.

Over. A. Fucking. Hour. Ago.

I was going to castrate Emmett. He had obviously set this up. Somehow, someone must have leaked that I was going to be here tonight. These women were all pre-armed with sharpies and autograph books. Posters and fucking DVD cases. I don't know what game was being played here but this was not on. Instead of being sold to the highest bidder, I was being peddled out the masses.

Aunt Sue was standing right by me, grinning evilly and shaking her bucket of money as people were making donations as I signed their crap and posed for photos. I don't know how I'm related to that women.

_Ha ha. Oh yeah._ I'm not.

And I was also going to kill Heidi and Felix. Some employees they are. They were meant to be here helping me. But no, they're at the bar, probably celebrating Bella's birthday. Without me. Meanwhile, this shit was ten times harder without them overseeing everything. One guy had rambled on for 10 minutes naming every single film I had been in, while I stood there politely nodding and mumbling in response when all I wanted to do was wring his neck.

_I know the names of my films, idiot._

Just then the waiter returned with my drink. Thank god. I had managed to catch a waiter earlier on as he was clearing tables and persuaded him to bring me a drink. It's amazing what a smile and a polite request can do. Thanking him profusely I took the drink from the tray, slipping a note back on the tray with a smile.

I took a big gulp and relaxed as the scotch burned its way down my throat. The next fan in line, a young looking girl, approached me shyly with her camera in hand. I sighed inwardly. Don't get me wrong. I don't hate my fans. At all. I just hate when they get in the way of my time with family.

_You mean your time watching Bella._

'Hi,' I smiled at her politely, as she got the courage up to approach me with her request.

'Can I get a photo?**'** She asked with a nervous smile.

'Sure.' I replied putting my scotch down on the table and posing with a smile as someone photographed us. 'Did you want an autograph?**'** I asked and she nodded, handing me her notepad and pen. 'What's your name?'

'Julie,' she muttered shyly and I got to work scribbling out a note with my autograph underneath. 'Thanks!' She squeaked, as I handed it back to her and she scuttled away as the next person, a middle aged women stepped up towards me.

'This is the last one.**'** I muttered under my breath, glaring at Aunt Sue, leaving her no question that I was done here. I wanted to spend this night with my family. As it was I doubt Mum and Dad had stuck around this late and I was missing out on the fun at the bar.

I signed the last autograph after the women informed me her name was Sharon, before handing it back to her. I nodded at Aunt Sue before grabbing my drink and returning to where I had left my jacket. I swiftly removed my tie, shoved it in a pocket of my jacket and rolled up my shirtsleeves. I gulped down the remains of my scotch, placing the glass back on the abandoned dinner table and loosed the top two buttons of my shirt.

Feeling better, I moved rapidly through the throngs of people in the lobby hoping not to get stopped as I made my way to the bar. My eyesight was firmly focused on the prize. I dodged around people, trying to spot Bella somewhere in the crowd by the bar.

I was so distracted that I almost failed to notice the slim brunette making her may towards me at a breakneck speed. Surrounded by people, there was nowhere for me to retreat to. She wasn't looking at me and failed to slow down or changed direction, resulting in her crashing straight into me. Instinctively, my hands went out grasping around her forearms preventing her from falling to the floor.

If I didn't recognise who it was by the exotic fruity scent permeating from the creature in front of me, then I would have known from the electricity that hummed around us when our skin touched. My heart sped up and my hands felt clammy against her skin.

_Bella._

I looked down, my eyes just level with the top of her head. She was staring at my chest, my hands on her arms before she looked up into my face slowly.

_Oh god._

She was simply stunning. The curls had begun to drop out of her chestnut hair but she was still gorgeous. Her porcelain skin shone in its perfection but it was those wide eyes she stared up at me with. Her makeup only worked to emphasise their beauty, I felt myself being pulled into their depth.

Did she know? The effect she had on me was startling. My whole being was disarmed by her. By just this one women.

_Holy fucking God._

I had met the most influential people in Hollywood and hadn't batted an eyelash. But this? This had me feeling like I had ridden on a roller coaster 50 times consecutively. All nervous and excited and pumped full of adrenaline at the same time.

She took a step back, and I was forced to release my grasp on her arms. Our eyes still locked, but I knew I was staring and forced myself to look away. Surveying the room quickly I wondered if anyone had noticed us?

'Why are you looking at me like that?' Eyes sparkling, her posture straightened and her face contorted into a look of confusion.

Looking at her like…! And I realized that in my blatant interest of her, she had read me like an open book.

To hell with this. I wanted her.

'Come and dance with me.'_Shit. It wasn't supposed to come out like that._

In the lingering silence between us I could see the resolve in her expression before she voiced her response.

'No. I don't want to dance with you.'

She said no? Can she not feel this? The electricity that crackled in the air between us. The pull I felt whenever she was around. Did she not feel it too? I didn't understand.

'Why?' I watched her face as she contemplated, fighting the urge to touch, to kiss.

'Do I need a reason?' The hatred in her voice shocked me, but it was the dark shade of her eyes that spliced my chest.

And all of a sudden the nervousness and excitement and adrenaline twisted around violently in my stomach. Rejected. How could I be so offensive to her? I almost stumbled backwards, holding my hands up in defeat. I managed to mumble my apologies and stalked away before giving her a chance to respond.

Fighting the urge to look back at her I resumed my path to the bar. No one approached me. Emmett was the first to spot me shouting, 'Eddie! Mate! Come get a drink.'

The rest of the group acknowledged my arrival with various waves and shouts of looked to be a few drinks in. I walked over to where Emmett was standing near the bar with Rosalie propped up on a bar stool and Emmett's arms around her.

I ignored Emmett, instead turning to the expectant barman, **'**Scotch. A large.'

I watched as the barman fulfilled my drinks order in silence, not trusting my hold on my emotions to speak yet.

Emmett frowned, 'Ah come on, Eddie, don't be like that! You're not still pissed off with me?'

I sighed. **'**Yes. You totally set me up. Mum and Dad have gone home, haven't they?'

'Sorry.' He looked sheepishly at me this time. He knew and I knew, that I couldn't stay mad at him. He was my cousin to the world, but a brother in spirit. I would do anything for my family. And if he needed me to help raise money for his company's charity it was the least I could do. It was for the kids after all.

'It's fine.' I took a long sip of the drink the barman had placed before me and thanked him. Facing back to my friends, Alice was perched precariously on another bar stool, an empty glass decorated with fruit and an umbrella, regarding me with a face scrunched in confusion.

'Ally?' I questioned, 'You okay?' _What was Jasper up to letting her drink so much?_

'Ed-ward,' she began, 'Where's your jacket?'

'Shit.' I had left it at the dinner table, trust Alice to notice. 'I'll be right back.'

Deciding to take my drink with me, I made my way once again back out into the lobby to go grab my jacket. I almost got to other side of the sizeable lobby before I spotted the couple in the corner. At an event like this it wasn't unusual to see people sneaking off to dark secluded spots. But they were in plain view of everybody. It wasn't the inappropriateness of their display that made me look twice, but the women pinned against the wall as a man nuzzled her neck.

I gripped my forgotten scotch glass tighter, as I stood frozen, looking into the brown eyes staring back at me.

_That was why._ He was the reason why she didn't want to dance with me.

I should have known that someone as…as amazing as Bella wouldn't be single. But I couldn't tare my eyes away from hers. Even from a distance like this I could see the pain in her face. _Guilt._

She had lied. I wondered how long this had been going on. Before she kissed me at the club? I wonder if Alice and Rose knew about him?

My stomach twisted painfully again, but I'll be damned if I'm just going to stand here and let her know how much she affected me. I forced my frozen feet to move again as I darted away and into the dining hall. My jacket remained where I left it and I paused to gather my feelings.

Why did this affect me so much? I knew I was attracted to Bella. More so than I had been to any other women. I had hoped…I don't know what I had hoped. That Bella would give me a chance? I know our relationship wouldn't have been easy, and she certainly wasn't the ideal choice for someone like me. But I had thought that there was something there?

I must have been mistaken. And now I just felt….gutted. Hopeless.

I was brought out from my musings by the sounds of a commotion coming from the lobby. I strained to hear shouting. What the hell was going on? Several people left the dining hall to check out the noise. I had decided upon staying in here to wait it out, until I recognised the familiar booming voice that was doing most of the shouting.

Grabbing my jacket I raced out into the lobby. People were grouping around one corner of the room, I began pushing my way through to the front just as Heidi, Felix, Jasper and Rosalie arrived.

I struggled to make sense of the scene in front of me.

Emmett was standing, silent now, whilst two security guards restrained a man in a dishevelled tux. He was obviously a guest but had removed his jacket and bow tie, his long greasy hair slicked back. Bella stood behind Emmett, backed against the wall, cowering slightly. Rosalie gasped almost instantly, and rushed towards Bella who was shaking violently now. She began stroking her hair and murmuring quietly to her, obviously asking questions as Bella responded by shaking her head.

My chest ached. I took a step forward, involuntarily, wanting to comfort the devastated women falling to pieces in front of me. _What the hell had happened?_

'What happened?' Heidi asked, echoing my thoughts, looking between Emmett and myself.

'_He_ was all over her. She screamed my name, she obviously wasn't happy and I pulled him off her.' Emmett spoke up. Looking back at the man I recognised as being locked in what I thought was a lovers embrace with Bella earlier.

_Holy fucking shit_. No. _Please,_ no.

I felt physically sick… he had her trapped and scared…whilst I….I thought…and she…had she wanted me to help her? And then I just walked away. My body was frozen, my jacket trailing limply on the floor. I looked at towards Heidi and Jasper who both wore similarly ashen faces, back at Emmett who stood with his arms crossed with fury in his eyes and then to Bella and Rosalie who were now hugging.

Did he touch her? Was she hurt? She didn't look hurt. I looked back again at the man the stood between the security guards. I had no idea who he was. But just the thought of him touching my Bella made me want to cause him physical pain. _My Bella? _She wasn't my Bella and I had not earned my right to protect her.

This was my fault. I could have stopped this. I should have done something. Anything. I should have…

Heidi stepped forward, moving past Emmett and began talking with Rosalie in hushed voices. It was painful to watch Bella cling on to Rosalie with dear life, her eyes closed blocking her surroundings. They questioned Bella, who shook her head fiercely a couple of times and then nodded to their final question. The two girls then made their way into the bathrooms.

I tore my eyes away from Bella to listen to Heidi as she began to give directions, 'Gentlemen, Emmett, if you could please escort _him_ outside. I think he has overstayed his welcome.

'Felix, go and call for the car. Jasper we need to find Alice and pick up the girls things. Edward, the bar tab. And grab some bottled water for the girls. We'll meet just inside the door in 5 minutes.'

Jasper hurried back to the bar with a departing nod, whilst Felix pulled out his mobile phone and began dialling. I glared one more time at that man as the security guards escorted him, now subdued out of the hotel followed closely by Emmett.

I turned to make my way to the bar but Heidi stopped me, pulling my arm and asking in a low voice, 'Edward, are you okay?'

I gave her a weak smile and nodded dumbly. I watched her enter the bathroom. But I wasn't okay. Because Bella wasn't okay.

Fifteen minutes later we were all solemnly sat in the limo. No one had really spoken in that time. Emmett and Alice had both given Bella a hug as soon as she got in the limo, but it was left at that. We were all numb with shock.

I couldn't help the image of Bella pinned against the wall that ran through my mind. Scenarios of me swooping in to save her. Things I could have or should have done. But I didn't. And Bella had gotten hurt and it was all my fault.

Bella looked tired. Shaken understandably, but she was no longer shaking or crying. In fact she wasn't doing anything but staring at the limo floor. Rosalie sat next to her protectively; I guess the girls had talked about what happened. But I still wasn't sure what the hell had gone on.

The limo was full of awkwardness. No one knew where to look or what to do.

Eventually, I shuffled over, fiddling with the sound system until the strains of classical music filled the air. Emmett nodded at me with a small smile and Bella's gaze lifted to look at me. Her eyes were lifeless as she regarded me briefly, before closing her eyes and resting her head against Rosalie's shoulder. The atmosphere in the limo calmed somewhat after that.

We arrived first at Rosalie and Bella's flat. Goodbyes were quietly exchanged, but I climbed out of the limo to help the girls as they exited. Bella took my hand without reluctance this time but did not look at me.

I didn't release her hand but could not bear to look her in the eye. I had to do something.

'I'm sorry, Bella.' The words sounded trite. 'I should have… I didn't know…' The words to form an explanation stuck in my throat, but a soft voice interrupted.

'It's fine. It's not your fault. You couldn't have known.'

Looking up finally into her eyes I saw no blame, no anger only a haunting emptiness. I felt ashamed.

After saying my goodbyes to Rosalie and Emmett who were staying with the night at the girls place, I returned to the limo and we departed. I rested my head in my hands as the others talked softly amongst themselves.

I don't know how long I sat there lost in my own world,but we eventually came to a stop. I didn't want to go home. I looked towards Alice and Jasper, 'Can I…?'

'Of course, Edward.' Alice interrupted before I could even frame my question, 'You don't ever need to ask.'

'Thank you.' Heidi gave me a swift hug, and I shook Felix's hand before exiting the limo. I knew she would have work to do tonight to make sure this didn't hit the media.

I followed Alice into the house after Jasper let us in through the front door. Alice disappeared upstairs immediately and I slumped down on the sofa removing my jacket and running my hands through my hair a couple of times. Fuck I was tired.

_Why__ the hell had tonight gone so wrong?_

'Drink?' Jasper asked holding up a bottle of whiskey to which I nodded. He poured us each a glass, handed me one and then sat down on the opposite sofa. After a few minutes Alice flitted downstairs in pink plaid pyjamas, her face devoid of makeup and curled up next to Jasper.

I needed to know.

'What happened?' I looked to Alice. She had become very close to Bella, being colleagues, as well as Rosalie and I know the three of them and Heidi must have discussed things.

Alice took a deep breath and began to explain, 'That man was Jacob Black, Bella's ex-boss.'

_Ex boss?_

'She worked for him at Vertigo and they went on one awful date, according to Bella. And then he started stalking her- calling her at home, her mobile, sending weird gifts.' She gave me a you-don't-want-to-know look. 'Cornering her at work.'

'Bella, being Bella, didn't want to make a scene. She left Vertigo, changed her phone number and just ignored him.' Her voice became quiet as she continued, 'Obviously, he knew she was there tonight and managed to get to her somehow. And well, you can imagine the rest.'

I don't need to imagine. I can see it in my minds eye; her pressed against that wall by him. I gulped down my whiskey to distract myself.

'Did he….did he…hurt her? Did he touch her…' I managed to stutter out quietly. Fuck, I hoped to god she is okay.

'NO!' Alice cried loudly before adjusting the volume of her voice, 'Bella managed to catch Emmett's attention and he stepped in. Nearly ripped the arm of the bloke. I think he's gonna have a black eye in the morning. She said she saw you but couldn't get your attention.'

My heart lurched at the thought of it. She had seen me and I had seen her but I had stupidly not seen what was really going on. So stupid. 'What a nightmare.'

'She blames herself.' Alice fidgeted in her seat, 'She refused to go to the police before and she thinks that it's all her fault.'

'It's not.' The words slipped out before I could stop them, 'But she is going to speak to the police about him now?'

'Yes. With Em and Rose in the morning.'

'Good.' Jasper finally spoke up, 'I haven't even known Bella for that long but it's was damn frightening. I don't know what I would have done if it was Ally.'

'Hmmmm,' I nodded in agreement. Ally's my sister and if anyone hurt her there would be hell to pay. Fuck, it had happened before. But somehow this felt worse. Bella had gotten hurt, no matter how minimally, and I couldn't help but think I could have stopped this. No matter what Bella said.

I should have been there to help her. I had an unfathomable urge, even now, telling me to protect her. Even though I knew she was with Em and Rosalie and definitely didn't need me. Not like I had any right to be there.

This was crazy.

I sat there in contemplation, sipping my whiskey and trying to process tonight's events. _Why did this affect me so much?_

I barely registered Alice and Jasper slipping off to bed as I sat there in my own world.

I was confused.

I know I am attracted to Bella. I like her, okay? I like her a lot. I'll admit to myself even if not out loud.

I knew she was intelligent. Witty. Charming. Fiery. Not to mention incomprehensibly beautiful.

Now I can add stubborn. Brave. Forgiving. Kind.

My wristwatch told me it was 1.12am. I poured another whiskey.

But I can't for the life of me understand what the hell goes through that women's mind.

She's so fucking difficult. First she kisses me and then she turns him me down before I even get up the nerve to ask her out. And that interview. Never have I seen someone else who blatantly didn't want to be somewhere. Even that night at her flat, she could barely contain her dislike for me.

But she did kiss me. That's got to count for something right?

_I don't know._

Why do I let her affect me like this? Look at me. I'm sitting up drinking sodding whiskey, alone, in the fucking middle of the night.

But then there are those moments when she looks at me and I look at her. There's a connection. I'm sure of it. And that kiss. It meant _something_.

I abandoned my unfinished drink next to the bottle of whiskey and blindly stumbled upstairs in the direction of Alice and Jaspers spare room. Toeing off my shoes I collapsed unceremoniously onto the bed.

So there it is.

I like her. I want her. I have an unexplained need to protect her. I wantto get as close to her as I can. To kiss her. To hold her. The thought of her with someone else makes me ridiculously jealous. I think about her all the time. First thing in the morning and last thing at night. Hell, I even dream about her.

_Holy shit._

I think I'm falling in love with Bella Swan.

**AN: What do you think? Please take the time to leave a review- it really does make my day and encourages me in my writing so much!**


End file.
